PAHUA

Tigre Selector: Pahua is Mexico City’s ElectroTropic Queen of Coquetismo

A mosaic of tropical electronics graced by heart-pounding percussions and magnetic vocals, ‘Coquetismo‘ just about sums up Mexican producer, percussionist, artist and DJ, Pahua’s, allure. This playlist features a besito of her own original productions nestled between alternative electronic and Latin rhythms by fellow artists that she admires such as Terror Cactus, Barzo, Tonga Conga, Mitu and Irepelusa. Lose yourself in this enticing curated playlist of fascination and enchantment and prepare to be consumed by flirtatiousness. We recommend you play the tracks in order for the ultimate musical experience.

Ahead of her July 27th show at ZeyZey in Miami, Pahua gifted us a spiritual awakening of her mystical sonic identity (use code TIGRE5 for $5 off). As you listen to ‘Coquetismohere, get to know this CDMX-based tropical, electronic-fusing artist and DJ:

TIGRE SOUNDS: TELL US ABOUT YOUR MUSICAL GENRE IDENTITY AND THE TYPE OF SOUNDS THAT MOVE YOU.

PAHUA: I like to call my genre tropical fusion with electronics. There’s a lot of genres playing in my songs and that’s because I love to discover sounds from a lot of places, but that are connected through Latin and Afro rhythms. I can name cumbia, bolero, son jarocho, dembow, bullerengue, champeta, selvática tribal, baile funk, afro house, afro pop, samba and amapiano as my inspirations.

When I was a little girl the bolero made my voice and that’s why I have this very profound and vibrant mariachi character. Then I started taking percussion lessons and understood “polyrritmias”. This was something that blew my mind and took me on a journey of Mozambique, songo, guaguanco and many rhythms that gave a lot of life to my Afro tamborilero sound. This also helped me discover a tiny part of Latin jazz that made me appreciate music differently.

TIGRE SOUNDS: HOW ARE YOU HELPING TO BUILD THE MUSIC CULTURE IN YOUR SCENE OR CITY?

PAHUA: One of the things that helps me build my community is to share what I know with other musicians as well as learn from their knowledge. Going to their shows, promoting them, inviting them to play together and sharing their work when I know there is something interesting for their development, leads to powerful collaborations and building with people from other places.

TIGRE SOUNDS: WHICH GENRE-BENDING ARTISTS ARE YOU REALLY EXCITED ABOUT RIGHT NOW?

PAHUA: I think Rosalia is the master of genre-bending. She has no fear to explore different Latin Rhythms and take them to experimental horizons with instrumental forms on the vocals on a very deep level of transformation. The profound sub basses are the main character to feel a physical chakra dimension.

The other one that comes to my mind is Hiatus Kaiyote, the entire band has such a perfect sound that breaks and cuts to make your mind blow all the time. The way the sounds travel is very elegant and powerful, with jazzy vibes but extremely electronic, geeky, galactic, and sometimes smooth rhythms. They bend their sound in ways that binds very high energy with so much melancholy.

TIGRE SOUNDS: WHAT SONG ARE YOU LISTENING TO ON REPEAT?

PAHUA: Camino – Alaidé, ALONG, Amaarae – Angels in Tibet, Letón Pé – Rojo Rubí, Harta – Mel Muñíz

TIGRE SOUNDS: WHAT EPIC LIVE SHOWS OR PROJECTS DO YOU HAVE COMING UP THAT WE SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

PAHUA: Of Course my Tigre Sounds live show at Zey Zey in Miami! I will also perform at Pickaton Music Festival and I have an amazing Canadian and US Tour all July and August. You can follow me on my socials to look out for all the info at @pahuamusic on IG, TW, Tik Tok, etc.

ABOUT PAHUA

Pahua (pa-wa) is a Mexican producer/percussionist/vocalist/DJ bridging the gap between alternative Electronic and Latin rhythms in the vein of CERO39, Mitu, YoSoyMatt, Montoya.
With 10M+ streams on Spotify, she is a featured cover artist on 8 Spotify official editorial playlists, including being handpicked by the platform as EQUAL Mexico’s ambassador. Additionally, she was chosen by Amazon Music as part of the ROMPE program and by Apple Music to participate with 2 tracks in the GRAMMY-nominated Arrullos Mexicanos Vol. 1 compilation.
A member of the US and Latin Recording Academy, Pahua has released 4 EPs and one LP on the renowned LA-based label Nacional Records and has collaborated on 20+ tracks with national and international artists. Her eclectic sounds have toured Mexico and graced performances in New York, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, London, Lisbon, Madrid, Ibiza, Mallorca, Munich, Hamburg, Montreux, São Paulo, Havana, San José, Bogotá and Medellín.
Pahua’s coverage includes Colors and Radio Cosmo (ALE), Radio Nova (FR), KEXP, Remezcla and NPR (US), Sounds & Colors (UK), BBC Radio 1Xtra (UK), Radio 3 (ESP), Radionica and Shock (COL), Indie Hoy (ARG), Indie Rocks! and Rolling Stone (MX).
TIGRE SELECTOR: PAHUA