#NOT THE FUCKING SPACE BETWEEN THE LETTERS BEING USED AS A CENSOR BAR FOR HIS NAKED CO-

[salty-dracon]

THEY'RE PUTTING YAOI IN THE NEXT DANGANRONPA GAME (REAL) (ABSOLUTELY NOT CLICKBAIT) (GUYS I'M NOT LYING YOU NEED TO SEE THIS)

[momentsinsong]

Moments In Song No. 024 - José Vigo

The songs and artists that get you through periods of transition end up staying with you for a lifetime. From navigating American culture as the child of immigrants, to developing his style as an artist, José has used music to help make sense of the transitions in his life. With a playlist featuring songs from different corners of the world, the Venezuelan born visual artist tells us about his favorite TV soundtracks, his admiration for Mac Miller, and more. 

Listen to Jose’s playlist on Apple Music and Spotify. 

Words and photos by Julian.

Julian: What was the thought process behind making your playlist. I see you have two little sheets of paper with a list of songs on them. 

José: As soon as you asked me to be a part of this, I knew exactly who I wanted to be on the playlist and what songs of theirs I wanted to pick. I picked the songs that have been holding me down the past fews months during this chaotic ass summer and spring. So I had like 20 people and I narrowed it down by picking the songs that I listen to on the way to work. I just bought a new bike so I’ve been cruising on the bike and listening to the songs. I made sure to put shit from when I want to listen to rap, when I want to listen to some other shit, when I want to listen to Latino music,

What songs from the jump did you know have to be on there. 

Definitely Anderson .Paak “Room in Here.” I couldn't make a playlist and justify it without putting Hov in it, so I picked my favorite Hov song “Feelin’ It.” Definitely needed to put Mac in here. That was hard because I fuck with so many Mac songs, but “Hurt Feelings” was my favorite one from “Swimming’ and it kind of fit perfectly with “Feelin’ It” and Frank Ocean. 

I don’t know if you did this intentionally but your playlist transitioned really well from song to song. 

For sure. It was definitely intentional.

I listened to it all the through and was like, “Man this is really flowing. It sounds like he took his time with this.”

At first I was like, “He doesn’t want me to pick my 10 favorite songs, he wants me to pick a playlist of 10 songs that I really fuck with. Let me make sure it has a structure and flows well.”

How’d you get into a lot of the foreign songs on your playlist?

My cousin Diego put me on to Flavien Berger, and then with the Japanese joint, my roommate is a tattoo artist and one of his coworkers was like, “You need to listen to this band.” So the second my roommate heard it he was like, “Yo I got to tell Jose.” As soon as I heard it I thought it was crazy. I grew up listening to cumbia music my whole life, my family is Colombian. Hearing Japanese vocals to it was so fucking cool and refreshing. It doesn’t sound like these guys are biting it and making it terrible. It all just sounds so good together. 

Is that their only song that sounds like that?

Their first album is called “Echos from Japan” and it’s got cumbia samples, reggae samples. The reggae song samples Sister Nancy. You should listen to that one, it’s so cool. And of course I had to get Bad Bunny in there.

What’s crazy about that one is I saw the name Bad Bunny and I had one expectation of what to hear…

That boricua shit, but it’s so Mexican!

Yeah because I didn’t know the other artist, but saw Bad Bunny and thought it would be some turn up party stuff, or even just something with the Reggaeton beat to it. So I was listening to it and thought, “Oh this is cool,” and waiting for the drums to hit and they never came in.

They never came in! [Laughs]. It’s straight Mexican shit. Natanael Cano is Mexican. But also Bad Bunny’s verse is so hard. I can show the song to my American friends and they can say, “Oh that sounds cool,” but you understand Spanish and can understand his verse and realize those were bars.

Have you always had such a wide taste in music?

For sure. You know growing up Latino, in your house you have your parents playing music from where they originate from, so I’m listening to Cumbia, Salsa, Merengue. But as soon as I left my house I’m listening to Hov, Hip-Hop, you know Black American music. 

So you start with the Latino music at home, and then move on to more Hip-Hop once you’re outside the house. How did you end up listening to music outside of those genres?

Definitely art. Art opened my mind, and as soon as I got a little older I discovered that everyone makes good music you just gotta find it. Watching shows and movies with really great playlists introduced me to a whole bunch of new music. “High Fidelity” has a great soundtrack. “Insecure” has a bomb ass soundtrack. “I May Destroy You” has a sick soundtrack. You hear a bunch of great British artists on there, it’s tight. Even video games have really good playlists. 2K, Tony Hawk. 

How’d you begin making art?

I began as a kid. I’ve been making art as long as I can remember. My mom would just buy me art supplies. She would buy me some toys that I asked for but mostly she bought me art stuff. I remember in elementary school, we would have competitions on who could draw the best car, plane, truck or whatever and I would win all the time. It gave me confidence growing up. I knew I had something that I was good at.

How would you describe your style of art? Are there certain themes or topics you try to cover in your work?

I never really know how to describe my art, it’s very influenced by Baltimore, skateboarding, music, & graffiti. I spent a lot of time painting letters so nowadays I try to draw other things. I like to draw the people I see on my commute to work, on my bike rides. Faces are so interesting. I really like the pattern work I’ve been doing where I’m filling space with objects, landscapes, things I reminisce about.

What’s the relationship between your art and music? Do you get influenced by music when making art? Are there specific songs or artists you listen to help get you in the mindset of making art?

Anderson .Paak is a big one. His music is really influential. It puts me in the vibe of wanting to paint and draw. It’s also inspiring and makes me want to finish something by the end of the day. Mac is definitely another one. I can listen to “Watching Movies with the Sound Off,” “GOOD A.M.,” “Swimming,” I can listen to all of those albums all the way through while I’m sitting there painting, drawing, making a collage. 

What specifically about those albums and Mac Miller as an artist inspires you?

I guess because we’re around the same age. When he started making music, I started painting graffiti. He was dropping albums, and my graffiti got better. He changed his style of music, and around the same time I stopped painting graffiti and became a visual artist through “fine art.” Also his drug use equates to mine, not saying I was ever an addict, but I definitely experimented with drugs I maybe wouldn't want my kids experiencing. I feel like his development as an artist was similar to mine, even though I’m not as talented. I don’t think I can paint as well as Mac Miller makes music [Laughs]. Same thing with Anderson .Paak. He was just working, working, working, hard as shit and then finally “Venice” went crazy, “Malibu” catapulted him, and now people know who he is. 

Was there a specific moment or artist that pushed you to start developing your own taste in music?

Definitely me being a little kid and listening to all of this Latino music, and knowing that I liked it but also knowing that this is what my parents are listen to. You know when you’re 11 or 12 you don't want to be listening to what your parents are listening to. Even though Héctor Lavoe bangs, let me listen to something else. So growing up in America, as soon as I could understand English and rappers well enough to comprehend what they’re saying, that’s what I would be listening to. Rappers like Nas, Hov, Kanye’s “College Dropout,” “Late Registration.” “College Dropout” came out when I was in 7th grade and was one of the first albums I bought. As I kid I was like, “I got this, I bought this.” 

Where were you born?

I was born in Venezuela. I was born in Caracas and came to the United States when I was 10 in 2001. Which was an awkward time to be a new brown person.

Yeah very awkward. Would you say music, specifically Rap music, helped you with that transition into America? Like with the American culture and the English language? 

Yeah for sure, because I was trying to fit in and there was a bunch of shit I didn’t like, but as soon as I heard Rap I was like, “Oh this is it! I fucking love this. This needs to be slowed down so I can understand their words better.” You know when you’re a kid you absorb information quickly. I got here when I was 10, by the time I was 11 I was already speaking English, and by the time I was 12/13 I could comprehend English well enough where I could understand what these rappers were saying. So Hip-Hop definitely helped me mingle and become part of America. Skateboarding too. Skateboarding gave me a lot of confidence. Art too.

When you were listening to that stuff were your parents ever like, “What is this?”

No actually I was never really censored. I had immigrant parents, so my mom was working 15 hours, my pops was working 18 hours. As soon as I started having all this music available to me, my parents were always working, I had no parental supervision. I got out of school at 2:00, and my parents didn’t get home until like 9:30,10:00 so they didn’t know what I was listening to. I was watching whatever I wanted, I was listening to whatever I wanted, so my parents weren’t aware of what I was listening to. Even if they were involved, they couldn’t understand what these rappers were saying. My parents don’t speak English. 

I’ve heard from other people’s stories that when they play certain stuff around their parents they’re like, “What is this? What are you listening to?” But I know with my mom when she came to America she was very much into American music and would listen to those Top 40 radio stations in the car. So when me and my brother started listening to that stuff she was never really against it. It was really cool but I know that’s not the same experience for all children of immigrants. 

Especially Latinos who have a Catholic background, our parents are somewhat conservative. My mom listened to Salsa, Cumbia, Merengue, Folk, Campesino Venezuelan/Colombian music. She actually really fucked with Michael Jackson. Kenny G, she likes Kenny G for some fucking reason. And them my pops, R.I.P., he listened to Tongo, spoken word with the saxophone, stuff like that. 

Yeah I feel like that's a big way for them to remember where they came from and to keep that connection when they arrive to a new place. Did your perception of that music change over time? Because when you’re younger that’s just what you listen to because it’s there, but then you get to a certain age and you don’t want to listen to what you’re parents are listening to, and then I think there’s a stage after that where you just appreciate it a little more.

For sure. You go back and and want to take a break from what you’re listening to all the time, and like, “Damn bro, Héctor Lavoe really bangs.” Héctor Lavoe is one of my favorite singers of all time. If you listen to his lyrics, he’s amazing. 

I’m not super familiar with him…

Héctor Lavoe is a Puerto Rican Salsa singer. He had a very shitty life, but he was an amazing singer. Definitely one of the most successful, well-known Latino Salsa singers. 

Is that appreciation for him something that came later in life?

I knew he was really good as a kid, but at the same time I was like, “This is what you listen to mom. I didn’t grow up like you. I’m an immigrant in America, I want to listen to American music.” At the time when I was 13 I didn't want to resonate with it because I wanted to be here (in America) and not looked at as different. But as I got older I realized that I have to appreciate that I’m different, because this is important. My words and my experiences are important, and the music that I listen to, and that my parents listen to is important. It’s not weird, it's important.

Yeah as a kid, I didn’t really like that stuff, but now that I’m older it’s come full circle and I appreciate it more. 

You know what’s one artist for sure? Oscar D'León. He’s a Venezuelan artist that a lot of Venezuelans and Colombians love. That’s music that I didn’t want to listen to as a kid. I thought it was my parents' generation of what to listen to in Venezuela and Colombia, and not something I really wanted to listen to. But now I’m like, “Man this is beautiful! These drums, this trumpet kills it. Oscar D'León’s lyrics are amazing. I really appreciate it now, and am glad that I have memories of getting woken up to it at 7:00 in the morning with my mom and her vacuum. 

As you grow older, you kind of learn to have that balance between recognizing where you come from and celebrating that, but also having your own thing.

Yeah I think as you get older you realize that your parents weren’t so old. Like when you’re 13 and you hear someone say they’re 30 you think, “Damn you’re old.” But 30’s not old. I’m 29 about to be 30 in February, and I’m super looking forward to being 30. Like my 30’s are gonna rock. I remember being a little kid and my mom was in her early 40’s and thinking that this is music that old people listen to, and it wasn’t. It was just music she listened to when she was young and it aged very well. I was just 13 and didn’t understand it. 

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