Trueno has the number four on his mind. He’s just released his fourth album, ‘Turr4zo’ and his native Argentina are defending their title as world champions in the FIFA World Cup. If they take it home again, it will be the fourth time they’ve won it.
“One can always dream! The number four is so important, and this is precisely my fourth album,” says the rapper, whose full name is Mateo Palacios Corazzina, willing fate as he sits on a sofa in a small room in Sony’s London headquarters, with a maté in hand.
Like Messi’s troupe, Trueno is representing his nation – and has just done so on the biggest stage of his career: Tottenham Stadium supporting Gorillaz. Performing in front of a crowd of 60,000 people is quite the feat for a kid from La Boca, a beautiful yet hardened working-class district of Buenos Aires, but rapping in Spanish to a majority English-speaking audience doesn’t phase him at all.
Onstage, he commands the crowd with confidence, energy and style, smashing through the past hits while debuting new songs. “It’s the first show I [played] songs of ‘Turr4zo’, Damon [Albarn] gave me the opportunity to do it in England, in a gigantic football stadium,” he says. “It’s opened up new audiences to me – I’m grateful.”
It’s not surprising that Trueno has won new fans here; he’s only 24, but he’s got the cool and composure to pull it off. He’s been doing it his whole life, first accompanying his father, MC Pedro Peligroso, to battles and performances as a kid, before cutting his teeth in the highly competitive Buenos Aires freestyle circuit.
His cross-generational schooling has meant he’s exceptionally versed in the hip-hop rule book, and his music demonstrates great respect and admiration for the OGs. The irresistible throwback groove of 2020’s ‘Dance Crip’ is universally infectious, while the interpolations of NWA and Eve on his later hits ‘F*ck El Police’ and ‘RGL’ (‘Fuck the Police’ and ‘Blow Ya Mind’, respectively) give familiarity to his hybrid sounds.
At Tottenham, the homage he pays to the golden age of hip-hop and the peak of ’00s R&B gets the Gorillaz crowd to jump, dance and shout along with him. Even those unable to fully grasp the wit of his wordplay and politicised songs, which tread on themes of police oppression to the open scars of the Malvinas/Falkland Islands war, are captivated by his energy.
Yet, ‘Turr4zo’ marks a change in musical direction. He’s moved on from his studious respect of the east and west coast pioneers, and is now ready to lean into his own roots as an Argentinian: ‘X Unas Llantas’ samples tango icon Carlos Gardel, title track ‘Turrazo’ samples cumbia band Los Wachiturros, and ‘Con El Combo’ is built on the swooning strings of a track from 1970s heartthrob Sandro.
“‘Urban’ music [in Latin America] has started to differentiate between countries: there’s a recognition of our roots, a return to them”
Produced by Spanish mega-producer El Guincho (Rosalía, Camila Cabello, Amaarae), on ‘Turr4zo’ the two push the limits of what’s possible with sampling and interpolations, rarely leaving the souths of the southern cone. “The Sandro one on ‘Con El Combo’, that totally blew my mind. That’s when I realised that Pablo [El Guincho] was crazy,” says Trueno. “He took such a beautiful, clean song and made it dirty with this hip-hop beat.”
Latest single ‘Pumas’ is based on the sounds of Argentina’s upbeat chacerera folk rhythms, featuring 19-year-old Argentine upstart Milo J. Navigating the pride and joy of both being from the country, the pair shift their music from urban beats into Argentine folk sounds – a move that follows Bad Bunny’s ‘DTMF’, which saw the Puerto Rican open up his reggaeton sound to embrace the root genres of the island.
“There’s always been an idea of what ‘urban’ music has been in Latin America, which has been tied to hip-hop,” Trueno says. “But now, ‘urban’ music has started to differentiate between countries: there’s a recognition of our roots, a return to them. I think that’s very positive.”
On the world stage, Argentina’s football players themselves have embraced the themes and sounds of ‘Turr4zo’, using its tracks to soundtrack their arrival on the pitch, and posting them on their Instagram stories. Trueno himself shares deep friendships with the likes of Leandro Paredes, and has spent time with players including Messi.
The parallels between Argentina’s rap and football culture aren’t lost on him: like many players, he started his profession young, and in the streets. Constantly caught in a flux of economic uncertainty, Argentina lacks financial and institutional support – if you want to make it there, you have to do it on your own, relying on your talent, skill and drive.
It’s this grind that has seen the country produce world-class talent in both sport and music. “Artists and athletes share passion. In football, you’re just a kid from a barrio with nothing more than a ball,” he muses.
Trueno refers to the players simply as his ‘idols’, demonstrating his natural humility – he is quick to express admiration and respect to the people around him. He smiles as he talks, instantly putting whoever is around him at ease, uncaring about swag and ego.
Above all, he is grateful. To his father for mentoring him from the start. To the football players who post his songs. And especially to Damon Albarn, for bringing him into the Gorillaz fold. “Everything is thanks to him – wherever he invites me, I’ll come. We’ve built a relationship based on mutual respect,” he says of the Blur frontman.
“Everything is thanks to Damon Albarn – wherever he invites me, I’ll come”
Albarn was introduced to Trueno through his daughter, Missy, who speaks Spanish and counts herself as a fan. The Gorillaz frontman then invited Trueno to jump in a verse of ‘Clint Eastwood’ on stage in Argentina in 2022. Since then, Trueno has played with the band multiple times, including their mystery House of Kong show last year, and supported them on their UK and Ireland tour this spring. He has also collaborated on their single ‘The Manifesto’, which speaks resolutely to the circles of life and the concept of death viewed in a spiritual light.
On it, he raps poetically about reckoning with death. “I go with my values, and I bloom by watering flowers / Taking in the aromas and colours, making the sky fall in love / And if the clouds cry, let them cry / I’ve got the trees as my teachers”, he raps, his flow effortless yet impassioned as bansuri interludes and sarod basslines weave together beneath him.
“What surprised me was the artistic freedom that Damon gave me. He told me the concept of ‘The Manifesto’, which I found beautiful,” he shares. He began by freestyling to get the flow down and carve out the melodies, then reworked the lyrics of the verse and chorus. Later, he heard late D12 rapper Proof’s verse, which Albarn had added from an old, unused recording, followed by an instrumental break.
“I asked, ‘Can I write here too?’ Damon said, ‘Wherever you want, the song is yours.’ It is very easy to work like that when a person is so open. For me, to feel respected and cared for, I appreciate it a lot.”
As NME’s time with Trueno comes to a close, he bounces out of the interview with his characteristic energy, ready to take his new album out to the world. As his verse on ‘The Manifesto’ reflects, he’s also ready to embrace life with optimism and positivity.
“There are similarities in playing a [football] season, and going on a tour – [you’re] representing your country,” he beams. “A moment where you are giving it your all and inviting people to be happy.”
As a rapper who has built a career from freestyle battles to football stadiums, and one who hasn’t stopped working to earn widespread respect and admiration – from the deepest hip-hop heads to Gorillaz fans – Trueno is already victorious. That will remain the case regardless of Argentina’s fate in this World Cup.
Trueno’s ‘Turr4zo’ is out now via Sony Music Latin.
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