WATCH: Lao Ra airs ‘Daddy Issues’ video
Lao Ra airs ‘Daddy Issues’ video
‘Jesus Made Me Bad EP’ out now via Black Butter/Sony
Radio 1, Spotify Viral Chart, MØ & Rejiie Snow supports
“Glitchy, worldly…a rebel cry that strikes close to home. Amen” Fader
“Set a date in your diary for when Lao Ra takes over the world” DIY
“If she reminds us of one thing, it’s that music is our religion” Nylon
“Those who dismiss pop as lightweight ought to listen to Lao Ra” Wonderland
“Transatlantic and tongue-in-cheek” Noisey, Tracks of the Month
Lao Ra has unveiled a video for strident second track ‘Daddy Issues’, taken from her debut ‘Jesus Mad Me Bad EP’. The title track has already gone Top 10 on Hype Machine and Spotify’s Viral Chart, picked up support at Radio 1, and seen the Colombian star-in-waiting sign to Black Butter Records / Sony. Having recently opened for MØ and Rejiee Snow, ‘Daddy Issues’, the forthcoming ‘Tell Me Why’ and an additional Spanish-language take on ‘Jesus Made Me Bad’ will accompany the original version on Good Friday’s EP.
WATCH the ‘Daddy Issues’ video
With the video airing today, ‘Daddy Issues’ mixes Carnivalesque hip-hop beats and glitchy electronics in a playful portrait of the Latin father figure. “I see a lot of men who struggle with being a parent and don’t really know their role in family life. Back in the day they would just bring the money home, and didn’t really have a connection with their kids. And as a consequence of dads being distant and absent, we don’t really know how we’re supposed to be treated by men and often end up fancying the bad boys, who are as aloof as our fathers.”
Born in inner-city Bogota – then considered to be one of the most violent cities in the world – Lao Ra’s first taste of music came through MTV, which she’d ritualistically watch with her brothers to escape what was going on outside. The world-building possibilities of transatlantic pop soon merged with a passion for the energy and attitude of punk, sparking Lao Ra to start writing songs at the age of twelve. She finished school and studied at a music college in Colombia, before working for a fire alarm company to make ends meet. Hoping that any English speakers who one day heard her music might pronounce her name properly, she broke it up into Lao Ra; her alias also unlocking a sense of confidence and girl-power which now cuts through her music.
Blending the tropical and topical, the ‘Jesus Made Me Bad EP’ is a window into South America’s colourful, conservative and often contradictory culture. Inspired by everything from the multi-national beats of MIA to the warped pop of SOPHIE, the title track is an infectious call-to-arms against Catholic guilt: “it’s about not wanting to give an explanation for your actions, because we were made this way and can’t help it.” ‘Tell Me Why’, meanwhile, distils a childhood spent watching US R&B videos into its depiction of a relationship dependent on melodrama (and in part formed by ‘Daddy Issues’). Having moved to London to pursue music full-time, Lao Ra’s music looks set to travel further still in the year ahead.
WATCH the ‘Jesus Made Me Bad’ video
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laoramusica