Wos, before racing: the pride of creating one’s own path, the lesson of the Redondos and the origin of the “Arrancármelo”

Two weeks ago, Wos released his third album titled Single use and confirmed the place of honor it occupies in the panorama of popular music. Call it Argentine rock, hip-hop or urban music, it doesn’t matter, because without a doubt He is one of the most relevant composers of recent times. Not in vain has she worked alongside characters such as Indio Solari, Gustavo Santaolalla, Ricardo Mollo, Nicki Nicole, Trueno and Dillom.

At 26 years old, Valentín “Wos” Oliva presents a work that demonstrates that he can no longer be considered a novelty or an emerging artist. Indeed, He started taking his first steps 11 years ago. in the world of freestyle, when he appeared in the then competition of The fifth step.

Era sample two seasons later and continued Red Bull Battles, where he was also number one nationally and then worldwide. I was 21 years old

Seeing the irony of the fact that many unaware people still cite him as a new artist, he laughs and says: “Let’s let them continue like this, because otherwise I feel old. Better that he continue to surprise and continue to be a revelation.” !”

Today Wos has just ratified the agreement Single use that his facility is not only for rhymes, but also for songs, which the whole country discovered during the World Cup with his success tear it offwhich served as the soundtrack to the national team’s journey.

Furthermore, before releasing this new 16-track album, Wos had been teasing what was to come with a few singles over the past year (Disposable, Morpheus, Melancholy, you will burn AND The fog), as well as excelling in collaborations with other artists, such as Residente, Molotov, Vetusta Morla and Evlay. His personal style takes flight in his songs and videos, where he constantly doubles down and raises the bar.

The sign of the Rounds

Two weeks before the album presentation On April 20th at the emblematic Racing Stadiumwhere Los Redonditos de Ricota and La Renga passed, with whom Wos chats Clarion in the offices of Doguito Records, a production company and label that he owns together with his manager Peter Erlich.

It’s midday and he smiles at the comment about what happened to his supposedly 100% nightlife (“I had a moment like that, but one day I said ‘Enough,'” he says). What followed was a relaxed speech, in which he was thoughtful and reluctant to give big titles, with his ego completely in check.

His undeniable passion for Patricio Rey and his Redonditos de Ricota was evident in his debut album, where he used the riff of Luzbelito and the mermaids on your topic light of crime. He received praise from Indio Solari and now they have composed a song together, you will burn.

“There has always been in me – he says – that fantasy of doing something together, in one way or another, more or less consciously. I composed it feeling that aura, without even knowing if he would propose it to me. We had already met “nice hangouts at his house to eat and drink in complete tranquility. Sometimes he would show his models, but I had never shown him anything.”

He added: “When he was close to the album I said, ‘Well, I’ve got this,’ and he listened to it and got excited. Then, of course, I emailed it to him so he could listen to it in peace.” . And then she made it on her own. He joined there and we traded a little bit.”

The point of contact with Redondo is not only Indio or Racing, but also the independent attitude, the way in which Wos built his career following the example of Patricio Rey’s musicians. “I am the great example – he assures – of one’s own path, with all the doubts and uncertainties that this entails. I think that at a certain point the need to decide what is my way of doing things, what is our pace and how shall we.” so that the archetypes do not devour us.”

What do you like about the way Redondo puts everything together independently?

-The beautiful thing is having the courage and audacity to leave something that is established in a certain way and challenge it, proposing what makes sense for you. That courage and steadfastness to stay that way and defend your way of doing things, even if your wrist trembles as it surely did to theirs. And people feel it very much and take responsibility for what you do.

The beginnings in freestyle

Wos belongs to the legendary El Quinto Escalón generation, where he competed with other slightly older guys who are also figures of today, such as Ysy-A, Duki, Neo Pistea, Lit Killah and Trueno, as well as Bizarrap and his competition compilations .

“I remember that period,” he says, “as something incredible, fantastic, somehow magical. First of all because it was the period that forged my identity during adolescence, and also because I eventually became passionate about “Making songs. Everything I do comes from there. It was an incredible and very special time. What happened with that movement and being part of that now continues to produce things.

-It all started small and with just a few people.

-All very small, but then it started to grow. Today I see the guys with whom we shared that moment and they travel the world and fill stadiums.

-Everyone took a different path and went far.

-Yes. Obviously there are many very different people, each with their own data. He went from that world of improvisation to start making songs and putting a band together. Ysy-A and Duki were the first ones I met. I remember I was a judge for Red Bull in a regional competition and I met them in Rosario with Modo Diablo. And they put it together, they succeeded! Then everyone took their own path, growing and opening a beautiful path. Then there are the branches. They went deeper into what the trap is.

-In urban music there are many crossovers and collaborations, which was not so common in old Argentine rock.

-Yes, re. Then they are assembled as branches. Me with Acru and with Ca7riel, who doesn’t really come from there. Sometimes I have the feeling that there is more crossing and sometimes less, but there is this notion of movement, in addition to the fact that at a certain point it is all very individualistic because no groups have formed. I think it helped the growth.

The success of the World Cup

A milestone in Wos’ career was the release of Arrancármelo, a song that became a kind of soundtrack for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. It doesn’t have the classic overflow of energy of his previous hits, but it has gained intimacy and emotion.

“He came out in the South, just with guitar,” he recalls. And he adds: “We sang it like a buzz, a half clunking. With Facu (Evlay) we sang it and we looked at each other, there was something we liked. Later in Buenos Aires, in a studio, the we gave the form and the lyrics. I hesitated because I felt that that thing was more exposed, and it was much more sung than in general. I remember that we said that we would make quiet videos, quieter in terms of production.”

-And you end up singing it at River for the national team.

-Yes of course. It was the song that was heard the most, for the type of song it is and for what it represented with the World Cup. Something like this also happened with KangarooAfter Terraces. These strange things always take me by surprise. They have always had to deal with something bigger, which makes them grow.

Towards the races

-How are the preparations for the stadium going, how long have you been building it and when did you book it?

-At the end of last year. I’ve been working on the show for a long time, although obviously as it gets closer things become more defined. It’s not always played with that era, but there are ideas that have emerged since the draft of the album was in place.

-People see everything at a distance, but in reality when you make the album you think about the video, the show.

-Of course, more and more. Because once you incorporate that dynamic, more and more of the live and touring feel gets incorporated into the studio.

-Without spoilers, how do you imagine this tour compared to the previous one?

-There is something of a certain general maturity in the project which, or at least I feel it internally, makes things change. The experience itself, the path I took personally and then as a team in general, everything that is part of me.

We put together this show, a journey together, a script, information and an experience that refines us more and more. There is an essence to what has already been seen, but I think it is becoming sharper and closer to what we have now.

-What was the most intense moment of the tour? “Caravan” was every weekend.

–Caravan It had the intensity of being the beginning and all that that entails, like figuring it all out. She moved everything and we discovered everything step by step, with innocence in our decisions. I look back and say it was cool, but at the same time it was going places.

With Dark ecstasy We travel a lot, but more on wheels, with more firmness to do it. There I started to enjoy it more and understand more what happens there.

-In Disney or Marvel terms, “Caravan” would be “Don’t make a wish because it may come true” and “Dark Ecstasy” would be “Every great power brings with it great responsibility.”

-Yes! She has something like that. That’s why I talk about that innocence Caravan Then Dark ecstasy. And this third album at some point has a bit of both, but it has already digested that feeling and is back to being on another side.

-Released singles, but then came the album with 16 songs. Since the first single, have you been composing and recording continuously?

-During the whole process we continued to compose. It was like a year or so of us making songs in different stages. I traveled with my producer, with Evlay, in small ten-day stretches to record. We leave space in between and other things appear. We are organizing everything starting from this, seeing what needs appear.

-Are there any songs left that can be used in a future album?

-In general I think I won’t use them, but in fact I will Single use there is a topic called The Southwhich is earlier than Dark ecstasy. It’s the penultimate one. It seemed like a perfect ending. It was like the first ending of the album, and then comes Arrancarme, which was like the end credits.

-How are things after the races?

-Now in May nothing, and from June we start with the tour that begins in Europe. We have shows in Dublin, Copenhagen, London, Berlin and several cities in Spain, without festivals. Then we come back and we have Latin America. Towards the end of the year, several provinces of Argentina. So a complete tour.