The phenomenon of urban music in Catalan has been in Catalonia for more than ten years, with urban formations subscribing to urban styles such as hip-hop, reggaeton, denbow, dancehall or trap. It is the music that the younger generations listen to, which is why it was to be expected that artists and groups with these styles would emerge and use Catalan in their songs. And it’s not that Catalonia is late when it comes to urban music, since to the ubiquitous RosalÃa you can add artists such as Bad Gyal, SofÃa Gabanna, Alizzz, or the rapper Morad, names that have transcended the limits of their place of origin to make yourself known in the Spanish… and world market.
But below the mainstream, flows a musical current that uses Catalan to think and write pieces sharing a genre with Bizarrap, C. Tangana and company. A growing group of musicians who could lead the next wave of popular music in Catalan.
This does not mean that the urban in Catalan goes tow of the music that is composed in Spanish, as Yung Mare explains, a member of the PAWN Gang formation which, like the At Versaris, participated in the first batch of urban bands in Catalan. “We started using auto-tune before anyone knew what it was,” explains this trap veteran, member of a band born in the Grà cia neighborhood of Barcelona that launched its first work on YouTube in 2011 “We wanted to make music that was different from what had been made until then”, and that’s why they focused on US artists such as Lil B, from the based movement, and gangsta music, people such as 50 Cent or Tupac. “We studied the origin of hip-hop culture”, explains Yung Mare, of a formation that is known for its transgressive lyrics, as is its way of dressing, which gives the right to those who claim that the trap is the new punk. Why sing in Catalan? “It is our mother tongue, it is more natural, more comfortable and easier for us”.
The explosion of urban in Catalan occurs around 2017 or 2018, with the fundamental help that was the success of RosalÃa, the artist from Sant Esteve Sesrovires, who in 2018 launched her first great success, The ill will It’s around that time when “the new groups are consolidated”, explains Yung Mare. “There were many more people working, even an artist who has now established himself asked us for permission to sing in Catalan because we were the only ones doing it.” These are the years in which bands such as 31 Fam or Flashy Ice Cream are born, which share their origin in Sabadell, one of the epicenters of this new wave.
“At first it was a bit strange, there was little confidence in the fact that this music could be commercial”, explains Albert Sáez, director of the Delirics label born in 2017, which focuses on music for young people, publishing works by artists such as Bounce Twice, Scorpio or Yung Rovelló, in addition to the aforementioned 31 Fam, Flashy Ice Cream or the PAWN Gang, who have recently published a new work, Respawn.
Halley Records, another of the labels that have approached artists of this genre such as Figa Flawas, Ven’nus or the rapper Lildami, known in addition to his music for his role as a judge in the program Eufòria. Urban had to overcome the prejudice against reggaeton due to its theme. “Proposals like Lildami’s that are not tied to these darker lyrics help popularize this music”, and help people embrace them more easily.
The emergence of urban music in Catalan is reflected in events such as the Maleducats festival, which last year brought together more than 4,000 people in Terrassa. In his poster, Wos, Quevedo and Bizarrap, the Argentine on everyone’s lips after his collaboration with Shakira, shared the stage with Flashy Ice Cream, 31 Fam, Lildami or Mushkaa, the younger sister of Bad Gyal, all of them with Catalan as the main language in his songs.
One of the characteristics of these festivals is the mixture of Spanish and Catalan. “For the new generations, those who attend these concerts, the language issue is not that important”, says Xavi Pascual, director of Promo Arts Music and responsible for the Strenes Urbanes festival that will be held on May 15 at Fà brica Damm. Pascual points out that the great leaders of genres such as rap or reggaeton sing in Spanish, unlike what happens in pop or rock, in which the main groups use English. “There has been a change in the trend in which Spanish is the predominant language”, he explains, and remembers that artists such as Ceaxe or Bounce Twice use both languages ​​in their songs. This allows Bizarrap, Quevedo, Lildami and The Tyets to coexist perfectly on the same stage, because the young audience “does not see this scene as a defense of the language”. For his part, Yung Mare provides a nuance when he emphasizes that PAWN Gang has many fans in Latin America while in Spain “there are people who still find it a little difficult to listen to us because of a political issue”. A trend that occasionally breaks: “The Tyets managed to make one of their songs one of the ten most viral in Spain”, recalls Xavi Pascual.
“With a computer and a brain you make a record… unlike pop groups, which require a band”, explains Ramon Montardit. Facilitations that also reach distribution and that make it easier for urban music in Catalan to “have a route and a much faster explosion” than usual.
“We are at the beginning of this new scene and it has yet to find its references”, says Xavi Pascual. “It may be that the Tyets or Lildami are, but in order to consolidate this scene we need at least six or seven bands of reference, which attract people”. What there is no doubt about is the potential of this space, as demonstrated by the creation of specialized record labels such as NPI, the label founded by Música Global to delve into urban music. “We believe that there is a very important Catalan scene, with many people who will emerge more and more”, explains Salvador CufÃ, president of the veteran record label. And in fact, urban music has fallen silent throughout adolescence, “all the kids between 11 and 20 listen to reggaeton”, recalls Ramon Montardit, although he acknowledges that the portion sung in Catalan is a minority, which he does not prevents thinking that “it still has a way to reach more powerful quotas”.
