Arraigo

Tufi’s music lives in liminal spaces, mapping out the murky zones between genres and geographies. The Argentinian producer and DJ is at the forefront of a new generation of artists radically redefining how we think about “Latin Music”, capturing the true plurality of sounds coming out of South America right now with shapeshifting DJ sets and incendiary productions,  combining the percussive swing of Cumbia with blistering breaks and 4×4 stomp. Following a slew of one-off heaters and edits for the likes of Catnapp and Bungalovv, Tufi’s debut EP Arraigo arrives as an astounding statement of intent – blistering, progressive rhythm tracks that offer a futuristic vision of Latin bass music.

Born in Argentina as the descendant of Italian immigrants, and now living in Berlin, Arraigo charts Tufi’s own journey with identity. The title itself translates as “rootedness”, exploring the producer’s pan-Atlantic links to different cultures and sonic traditions. He elaborates: “while working on the EP, I was thinking about how I could explore ideas from techno and house while reconnecting to my Latin roots…I wanted to make techno but approaching tracks using techniques from Cumbia and other sounds that I grew up immersed in.” While some tracks swing like a pendulum between styles – raucous opener “Limete” switching from driving bass bounce to soundsystem swagger, others like “Papanta” provide more of a subtle synthesis, layering disparate drum traditions with syncopated Cumbia percussion over unrelenting kicks. “Horny” stays true to its name, amping up the temperature and tension with slinking acid lines and frenetic vocal stabs. “Chanta” takes an even deeper dive into South American music, sampling a chant that the producer learned from the Mapuche people, acknowledging the indigenous people who had occupied the region long before Spanish colonisers arrived.

Beneath the humid bass and deft percussion, Tufi traces detailed sonic maps for those who know how to read them. Arraigo captures the complexity of bass music’s migrations and evolutions as it moved around the globe, exploding reductive Western tropes without sacrificing the bracing immediacy of his productions.