“Talent is always conscious of its own abundance, and does not object to sharing,” quoth Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. So I can’t help but imagine artists’ reactions to Mexico City crew/label N.A.A.F.I.’s third compilation of bootleg club remixes, Pirata 3: Rihanna dancing ecstatically to “WE FOUND COLAPSO,” Fetty Wap belting out “yeaaaaah baby!” over ZUTZUT’s rendition of “SPEND THE NIGHT,” or perhaps Sisqo doing cartwheels on a beach to “CAVE THONG.” It’s hard not to react positively to these bass-rattling edits, and surely the original artists would give in to their charm just as willingly as the rest of us.
But Orwell warned us: “if you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.” Seeing as major streaming conglomerates and labels insist on playing whack-a-mole with copyright-violating Soundcloud and YouTube accounts, he may’ve been onto something. Real frustrating stuff for burgeoning DJs and producers just trying to have fun. Even still, sampling and bootlegging continues to be an integral component of electronic music, perhaps especially in Mexico. N.A.A.F.I’s Mexican Jihad explains:
“Informal economies are a fundamental expression of the developing world. In Mexico music piracy is bigger than any label or music industry. It’s a whole way to operate and relate to a market driven reality as individuals. Being pirata is very punk.”
Stream Pirata 3 below & download the compilation here. Be sure to keep an eye out for NON and N.A.A.F.I’s upcoming collaborative mixtape featuring Embaci.
More about: DJ Bekman, Imaabs, Lao and Paul Marmota, Lechuga Zafiro, MORO, N.A.A.F.I, Omaar, Pininga, Santa Muerte, Spaceseeds, Tayhana, Traxmatik, Wasted Fates, Zakmatic, ZutZut
