Tango and Bad Government: CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso On Buenos Aires

Fresh from Coachella, with Glastonbury on the horizon, the duo reflect on the highs and lows of their resilient home city, Buenos Aires.

It’s tough to recommend places when your city is relentlessly knocked down by economic punches. Venues and bars open. Then they close. Music becomes a form of resistance, where creativity and community are required to ensure its survival.

When we ask Argentine duo Paco Amoroso and CA7RIEL their top spots to explore Buenos Aires’ underground scene, they reply frankly: “I don’t think there are any.”

“The [Buenos Aires'] underground scene isn’t what it used to be, before there was a sense of freedom, or even recklessness," says Paco Amoroso. “The city has suffered under very bad governments; ones that, to some extent, went against culture.”

If anyone would know, it’s them. The Porteño duo currently ripping up global stages with their experimental, funk-fuelled urbano songs have a background grafting through the lower levels of the city, playing in rock and metal bands in the infancy of their musical careers.

Mirroring the volatility of the Argentine economy, the duo left their bands out of financial necessity—rapping solo was a cheaper and more dexterous alternative.

“We spent money on rehearsing with the band, took the drums with us on the train, broke our backs…in inhospitable places,” CA7RIEL told VICE in 2019. "Success is about having a huge audience that supports me to the core, and trap came into my life to make that happen."

The accessibility of trap gave way to an explosive freestyle-scene centred around mythic Buenos Aires venue Quinta Escalón in the 2010s, launching the careers of several Latin trap megastars including DUKI, YSY A and Bizarrap. Today, Quinta Escalón no longer exists, alongside countless venues that have buckled under the strain of the Argentine economy.

Although the duo struggles to recommend physical spaces to check out in the city, Buenos Aires’ omnipresent sense of music remains, tied to resistance and grit.

“There’s a history of rock and tango in the city—it’s a city that lives music,” continues Paquito, with CA7RIEL nodding in agreement. “If we could recommend anything from Buenos Aires, we recommend the EP by El Doctor & Little Boogie.”

"It's fantastic!" echoes CA7RIEL.

So, if you’re visiting Buenos Aires, look out for mobile, make-shift parties rather than brick wall establishments. "There are raves and parties," offers Paco. Despite the fragility of physical spaces, the city’s expressive energy and explosive musical output is a testimony to its resilience.

Keep your ear to the ground to uncover the city's rhythmic pulse—and check out the El Doctor & Little Boogie’s Lo Más Odiados EP while you're at it.