Talking Mataderos With Saramalacara

Ahead of Saramalacara’s new album, Mataderos, releasing sometime in the near future, I have had the unique opportunity of being able to sit down and discuss what’s been on her mind lately. The title of her album is an allusion to where she grew up. Mataderos, Argentina, which in English, literally translates to “Slaughterhouses.”

In a neighborhood full of butcheries where the streets reek of cattle blood, I asked her how being from Mataderos, a small and unique town just outside of Buenos Aires, has influenced her as an artist. 

She lived in Mataderos for her whole life, up until about three years ago. She was living there when music started taking off for her and she started touring. But despite the love she has for where she grew up, she insists that most of her inspiration comes from growing up on the internet.

“I was an internet rat, that’s the thing. Being an internet rat put me in the position to know people like producers in LA who I've been working with this year, which is all so fucking mind blowing” — SMC

And she’s right. Saramalacara has had a more than impressive year working notable North American producers such as F1lthy, Lucian, Lukrative, Dylan Brady, and more. She told me that after recently signing to Interscope Records, they would help her arrange sessions with producers she wanted to work with for her album while she was in LA.

She also mentioned a funny anecdote of hers.

“I’m friends with some people in Surf Gang like Evilgiane and when he came to Argentina for a show, he told me ‘Bro I want to paint graffiti in Buenos Aires.’ He knew I spent years painting graffiti before going crazy with the music and I told him ‘Yeah, for sure.’” — SMC

This led to Saramalacara and Evilgiane having to run from Argentinian police. She described this experience as something that helped shape “a real bond” between them. Later, during her trip to LA, Interscope arranged a session between Saramalacara, Evilgiane, and Eera, despite the legal incident they were almost involved with. 

As part of Saramalacara’s rollout for Mataderos, she's been posting pictures with her extensive collection of weaponry.

“It makes people think ‘Why do you have so many guns and you are just a little girl?’ You know, it’s a funny thing to me.” — SMC

She explained guns play a strong role in the identity of the people of Mataderos. Her grandparents owned an armory and loved to go hunting in the countryside. She was never allowed to participate because she was the young girl of the family.

At this point, Saramalacara started going on about more of her feelings towards her album. She mentioned Mataderos wasn’t the original title for the album, but people from her label talked her into titling it that based on the themes she was sharing about her childhood and teenage years. She also explained how much this album means to her and how she wouldn’t let anyone get in the way of her process in creating it.

“It’s just a crazy feeling, you know? It’s kind of like a God complex because no matter what happens I’m just surfing the wave. I’m going to be prepared for everything and nothing else matters. I’m sorry Mom, I'm sorry friends, but nothing else matters to me. Sorry Juan, if I have to kill you, you’re going to understand right?” — SMC 

To which Juan Cruz Larrosa (A film director working at Bohemian Groove Corp.) gave her a thumbs up.

To bring our conversation to a close, I wanted to gauge what Saramalacara’s goals were now after having signed to a label in the U.S. 

She said that growing up, all the biggest rappers she looked up to were American and it was difficult to imagine that concept ever changing. But eventually, she found a unique inspiration in Bladee and Yung Lean. Two Swedish artists who not only dominated in their own country but garnered the respect from legends everywhere. That’s when she realized what she wanted. She wants to have the respect of the artists and creatives she looks up to, and while the trends in Argentina and the rest of South America stays focused on producing music that all sounds the same, she wants to branch out and thrive in a place where more is possible.

“I don’t need a Grammy, I don’t need to be number one on the charts, I need to be number one in my shit.” — SMC