New York City runs wild with reggaeton, has bachata coming at it from all Dominican directions, and is good with the Mexican pop honeys and home-grown Latin electronica hybrids. But when South American urban artists come through it’s a happening. And those have been happening with more frequency.
The king of Argentinian urban music for much of the past decade has been Pablo Lescano. Frontman for his band Dama$ Gratis, Lescano is Argentina’s answer to gangster rap. Take Oakland’s Too Short, blend with a bit of Puerto Rico’s Daddy Yankee and throw in Lescano’s signature instrument, an impressive “keytar” colored in neon and painted in porn, and you have the undisputed ruler of grimy street in Buenos Aires.
I had the good fortune to interview the legendary bad boy during a night of 9 consecutive concerts at clubs around the outskirts of Argentina’s capital. He’s been through it – violent childhood, drug addiction, jail, rehab, and is lucky to be alive. But he’s making the most of it now with hard work and incredible drive to perform for fans and try new musical flavors. Which has him playing with alt rockers Los Fabulosos Cadillacs in the New York Times here. And coming to NYC for the first time. He’s determined to step up his game and he’s taking urban music with him.
On August 22nd Pablo Lescano was meant to have played in Manhattan for the first time. I heard the hype but nothing on a resulting show. NYC waits for Pablo and and his sexy instrument on stage, while BA teens enjoy frequent shows. Bring the man to the apple already – he is long overdue. A trip from the bottom of the southern hemisphere to the capital of the empire isn’t cheap but a couple of Argentinian artists have managed to make it happen recently.
LaYegros is an artist out of Buenos Aires who plays in NYC a few times a year at her label Dutty Artz’ parties and with the occasional ZZK tour. She’s married to King Coya and recently toured Europe with him, appearing at this year’s Roskilde Festival 
. She’s a super talented vocalist and performer, very easy on the eyes and the ears and sure to make waves with the digital release of her first single Trocitas de Madera, which features the production skills of DJ Rupture and ZZK’s El Remolon and King Coya among others.
Another NYC sighting of Buenos Aires city music took place at Nublu in August, when Mataplantas played their brand of infectious indie rock in Lower Manhattan and Harlem followed up by a show at Hecho en Dumbo. Though the band definitely does not resonate with the urban grime of our homie Pablo, Mataplantas brought the South American city with them on their travels and represented for concrete jungle with a pop aesthetic. Peep their travel story here:
