Lao Ra – Me Gusta (ft. Afro B)

In the words of Lao Ra herself, ‘Me Gusta’ is about “a woman who’s in control of her sexuality, looking for a situation where she doesn’t need to ask questions, but can invite a guy to relax, drink some tequila and enjoy the moment while it lasts”. Agency, then, is at the heart of the Colombian-born singer and producer’s latest single, unsurprising considering that she’s been determined to speak to the experiences of young women in the world.

She expresses this agency through forthright lyrics (“I’ll keep you warm/ Fuck until dawn”), but also manages to tie the themes into the music themselves, singing that the woman gets together with others “kind of like the rhythm of a reggaetón”. She crafts her words around a melting pot of music from her own Bogota roots and life in London, weaving together afrobeat and pop with the dancehall guest vocals of Afro B, a blackened synth pulse and beats that could get anyone on the dancefloor. There’s even a bit of accordion thrown into the mix.

It’s just another sign that nothing is off limits to Lao Ra in terms of sound and inspiration; anything could make a floor-filling pop jam as she becomes even more in control of her own musical destiny.