El Dusty is one of the musical geniuses of our time. Hailed as the creator of the Cumbia Electrica genre and driver of the bleeding edge of Nu-Cumbia, he was nominated for a Latin Grammy for his hit Cumbia Anthem last year. His latest release, Soy Loco, a collaboration with singer/producer/DJ Ma-Less, should not only get nominated but deserves the statue.
The Corpus Christi DJ, rapper and visual artist, joins with Ma-Less to put out an addictive, politically-charged cumbia that spotlights the insanity of the US immigration policy. While El Dusty’s cumbia rocks along as a moving musical platform for Ma-Less to stand on and sing out her rage – our rage – at ICE’s inhuman treatment of immigrant families and children. Soy Loco will join Nancy Sanchez’s The Kids Are Still In Cages as the rallying cry for dismantling the infrastructure of cruelty built in Washington and along the US-Mexican border.
The daughter of an immigrant Jamaican father and Panamanian mother, Ma-Less (Malice) has every reason to be outraged. She and El Dusty let us know they are loco at the loco behavior of the US government and an administration that calls Lantinx’s loco. She puts it all out there and you can dance to it.
El Dusty has been wanting to work with the equally brilliant Ma-Less for years and Soy Loco finally gave them the vehicle to do what they both do best – and pretty much better than anyone else. Whether you speak English or Spanish or both, whether or not you think you like cumbia (you should), Soy Loco will go to the top of your playlist. It is intelligent, addictive, powerful, fun, and important. It is not often you can find all of that in a single song but El Dusty and Ma-Less pull it off in Soy Loco.
Patrick O’Heffernan, Host, Music Sin Fronteras radio
