Füete Billete - “Trå” / “Una Changa (feat. Yung Beef)"

Last year saw Füete Billete take a victory lap with “Buena Vida,” then later boisterously declare “Somos Hp” as they raged to trap. The two cuts were welcome treats, but the Puerto Rican crew was also due for a clear-cut banger worthy of Música de Capsulón’s legacy. The latest single from the rap trio’s upcoming album Papelón City might just be an answer to our prayers, if not that, then at least a much needed supplement to our summer playlists.

“Trå,” which was released as a music video a few weeks ago, is a hyper dance track with rap verses stacked between strobe lights, filthy beats, and West Coast touches. Pepper Kilo and BB Johnson’s flow is so effortless that the refrain “muévelo” overtakes the imperative and transforms itself into a pure celebration. B-side "Una Changa," backed by PXXR GVNG’s Yung Beef, continues to idolize the night show with softened production not unlike Rae Sremmurd’s neon-soaked banger “Look Alive.” “‘Una Changa’ es una canción del verdadero poder que tienen las strippers en el club,” Kilo told i-D where the song originally premiered. Strip clubs have long been credited for their power to turn singles into actual hits. Here Füete Billete are ready to submit to all the seductive powers at work (“Ella es la que manda aquí”), which help set up Papelón City as an ambitious project we can’t wait to hear in full.

All My Friends 2014: Festival Report

by Carlos Reyes

Pictures by Carlos & Ricardo Reyes

Through the six years of helming Club Fonograma I’ve personally concentrated on articulating on proper releases, abstaining myself from covering music festivals or serve the journalist role on interviews. Perhaps because I write and publish from a personal space (my room, and not from headquarter offices), the idea of commenting on something as grand and collective as a music festival (where the weather and the sound engineer are as equally important to the experience) seemed disproportionate and not very romantic. A loving, still-emerging festival like All My Friends is a good opportunity to try and push through this writer block. Albeit a small write up, this is a recap of one very memorable weekend.

This being the first time I’ve attended All My Friends, I didn’t have a lived reference of what the past editions of the festival had been like. Yet, every single person I talked to seemed to commend the idea of moving the fest from a cultural center in Tijuana, to Rosarito beach. Perhaps because our party (joined by fellow Phoenicians, Ricardo and Abraham) traveled from 110 degrees in Phoenix (our home), the beach was just a little too cold to fully enjoy it. It was a wonderful scenery at the hosting hotel, Castillos del Mar though, where we were greeted by a concierge who could’ve easily been a character out of The Grand Budapest Hotel. As we sat at the bar early on Saturday to watch World Cup matches, we witnessed Rosarito beach be invaded by hipster tribes and subcultures from the nearby bordertowns (Tecate, Mexicali, and of course Tijuana), as well as a good number of kids from “the other side.” This bicultural target being one of the big attractions from the festival’s new infrastructure, as this is the first year it’s held under the acquisition of NRMAL.

Stamped fruit-salad shirts and well-fitted shorts predominated amongst the crowd, though it was surprising how many kept their industrial and abbey road boots on. Despite the attraction of the beach, people were prepared to rock it out –or so they thought. Early on and with the bliss of the sun at its finest, Monterrey’s CLUBZ proved to be as infectious by the beach as they were back at Foro Sol at Vive Latino this year. Listening to the beautifully aching “Golpes Bajos” by the sun and on the sand was a great way to start the day. CLUBZ invited Costa Rican band, Las Robertas, to join them on stage for their closing number –people couldn’t contain themselves flirting with the extremely good-looking Monserrat, Mercedes, and Fabrizio. When it was time for their own set, Las Robertas showed a great skill of controlling shoegaze timing while maintaining assertiveness to their sometimes-difficult-to-grasp melodies (like that of “Ojos con dientes.”) A group of anglo baby boomers watched from the backyard of their mansion, dancing all along.

The main stage (at the beach) then welcomed its American cards, who had various degrees of success: Bleached looked and sounded like they were truly happy to be there, Lumerians alienated about half of those at the audience (we walked out), while the highly-awaited Gonjasufi was embarrassingly cacophonic, although the sound department was responsible for half of that performance’s flaws. Over at the very green Jardín stage, things were a hit and a miss, where the analog warmth of Late Nite Howl and the synths of the leather-covered L.A. Drones were the breakthroughs. Not to forget the energetic set by Santos, who really upstaged Sonidero Travesura (the closing act at the main stage), who we had very high expectations from after seeing them with a funkier and double-the-members formation at a strip club in Ensenada a few years back.

Lastly, if any single thing was worth the 6-hour drive to Rosarito (other than the personal joy of being able to pick up a copy of Mexico's VICE, where I’m featured next to Juan Gabriel –thanks Marty!) was the triumphant performance by Füete Billēte. Prior to the festival, it seemed like the buzz slanted more towards the American acts and the bands with new albums. Many understated the livelihood and relevancy of the masterpiece that is Música de Capsulón. Whatever sound discrepancies the main stage had on its earlier headliners, Füete Billēte sounded truly bold and deflowered every punk, snub, and rockosaurio that might have been in attendance. It sure was fun seeing so many booted people descending to the floor with “Hasta El Piso.” And when those heart-trenching synth crescendos of “La Trilla” (the best song of 2012) broke through the speakers, we saw a few of the featured chefs of the event abandon their food trucks just to live that moment. The fireworks that were fired up during “Bien Guillao” were nothing short from fitting and an extension of what many of us were feeling on the inside.

Füete Billēte - Música de Capsulón

Música de Capsulón, Füete Billēte
Independiente, Puerto Rico
Rating: 94
by Enrique Coyotzi

It was back in January, when we first stumbled upon the thrilling “La Trilla,” that Füete Billēte, Puerto Rico's hottest rising act, started creating a significant amount of buzz. Ever since that promising introduction, Füete Billēte uploaded periodically to their SoundCloud many more dazzling tracks, whose quality promised a daring, piercing, and remarkable first reference. After some months of waiting, the superb, scandalous, hit-packed mixtape Música de Capsulón is finally here, marking the boldest debut release by any Iberoamerican artist this year.

Füete Billēte, made up by rappers Beibi Johnson and Dávila 666 frontman Pepper Kilo, along with producer Freebass, seem to be sailing under A$AP Rocky’s “PMW” philosophy. Their lyrics, while consistently offensive and misogynistic, honestly share the point of view of a street dog, a pimp, a gangsta—dudes who are real and aren’t afraid to explicitly speak about the shit they’ve gone through, their experiences exactly the way they’ve lived them. They tell it like it is. Despite falling into bad taste territory, as Pepper Kilo declares in “Bien Guillao,” “una vida como ésta hay que contarla.” He also justifies pretty well the group's motifs in this interview, explaining, “Rap shouldn't be an acceptable thing for everyone. Rap is about speaking the truth, what happens in the street, and how people live in the streets.” While some listeners may take Füete Billēte as a joke (some of their lyrics are simply too damn funny or purposefully outrageous), you can tell Pepper Kilo is being dead serious when making this statement.

Hate them or love them, there’s no denying Música de Capsulón is a hell of an accomplishment—a necessary refreshment for 2013’s closure. If you've been following their SoundCloud activity, chances are you probably know by heart the majority of these songs. The real pleasure is to have them, at last, in a perfectly sequenced release, where there’s hardly chance to breathe. And I mean that as a compliment. Like Janelle Monáe’s The Electric Lady, or even El Gran Silencio’s Chúntaros Radio Poder, Füete Billēte include a couple of skits resembling radio listening and a couple of others that bring to mind that disconcerting, yet hella funny voice message at the end of Calle 13's “Uiyi Guaye.” With hardly any pause between tracks, the MCs found a robust manner to accommodate their previous offerings, assembling an entrancing narrative. Whether it's with the assistance of Freebass' luxurious beats or Overlord's under-purple-drank, stoner production, Füete Billēte's vast musical spectrum, which ranges from '90s rap, to crunk, to contemporary hip hop, stands out throughout, revealing new genius in every spin.

Beibi's and Pepper's performances, however, are what steal the whole show. Johnson's reggaeton-esque flow is commanding, while Kilo's sick, often Auto-Tuned verses are intrepid. If the listener could picture their physical state during the entire record, one would admire them with red and dilated eyes. The sheer volume of smashers on Música de Capsulón is impressive. Following the throwback intro “Mira Esa Perrita,” the title track quickly makes itself present. It easily equalizes the same exciting effect we had when we first heard “La Trilla.” The self-aware “La Moda,” hard-hitting “Hasta el Piso,” and Aaliyah-sampling “Una en un Millón” are ultimately designed for perrear/twerking. Outstanding singles “Bien Guillao” and “Al Mando” bring out their most gangster side, while Overlord-produced tracks “Fumaera Namás” and “Vaso Lento” exhibit them DUI all the way. They even show their more romantic style in the fucking sexy “No Me Quito” and get dreamy in the opulent “Peces Cuadraos.” Whichever side they present, they succeed in it.

From the Fugees’ inspired album cover to the notable invested labor in its conception and brilliant nods to its influences, everything about Música de Capsulón feels meticulously mastered and conferred. Even though it's conceived as a mixtape, just like BFlecha and her panoramic βeta, Füete Billēte confected a release that surely feels like an album in the whole extension of the word. Inescapably irresistible, potentially controversial, and already exuding timelessness, Música de Capsulón certainly establishes one of the greatest hip hop careers in years to come.

Füete Billēte - "La Trilla"

Club Fonograma has started the year witnessing some pretty exciting music coming out of Puerto Rico (Alegría Rampante, AJ Dávila, Unochosiete). It might be coincidential, but it’s not too crazy to suggest 2013 might be a fertile year for the island’s tiny, yet striking indie scene. Following the premiere of AJ Dávila’s “Animal,” a handful of readers pointed us to Füete Billēte, another act connected to Davila 666. This is the side project of Davila's frontman Sir Charles (performing as Pepper Kilo on this one). While side projects Las Ardillas and AJ Dávila maintan the 666 punk core, Füete Billēte goes gangsta with a sole purpose: “to bring explicit rap back to Puerto Rico.” The act released a pretty evil video for first single “Bien Guillao” and some other notable tracks via Soundcloud. They’ve hit the jackpot with “La Trilla,” a rap number (with a thrilling chorus) that negotiates urgency and agency in the most assertive and boldest delivery Latin urban music is likely to see this year.