Ibeyi - Me voy (feat. Mala Rodríguez)

Twins Naomi and Lisa-Kaindé are a unique band in nowadays music, not only because their mix of R&B, electronic music and tribal rythms, but also because they represent the richness of cosmopolitan cultural exchange: they are French-Cuban and sing in Yoruba (traditional Cuban language), English, and now in Me Voy, they give a go at Spanish for the first time. This intercultural mix can be felt intensely in every one of their songs: they are a combination of the past and the present, of magic and reality, of their historic background and their goals as female musicians.

In Me Voy, they take a marimba as to create the base rhythm and then add percussions and synths that are also very sharp in their beats. It is their voices the ones that flow over the strong cadence of the melody, softening and giving it some ethereal qualities; but even if they sound ethereal, there's a lot of character in each one of their statements so when they are claiming "Me Voy" (Spanish for "I'm leaving"), it's not only a sentimental threat, but the real decision of empowered women.

The presence and influence of Mala Rodríguez are also heavy in this track: she is a very well-known Spanish hip-hop artist that combines sensuality and raw energy in her music and her performance, creating great feminist statements, she establishes that she is happy in her sexual body, but she is the only one who decides over it; you certainly don't want to mess with someone like La Mala, she really is going to "Make you sink like water in the earth".

There's a lot of inventiveness in Me Voy, a great work of using their personal history to push the boundaries of traditional rhythms, and to enrich avant-garde trends with the raw power of tribal music. When Despacito exploits the worst clichés of Latin American identity for pure marketing purposes, Ibeyi is showing the world the real cultural richness that one can found in the deep Latin American tradition.