Hailing from Seville, Spain, producer Juan Rios has been releasing textured lo-fi instrumentals for almost five years. He’s released on over a dozen labels, and collaborated thoroughly with vocalists, especially Spanish rapper Soukin. Rios comes from a Spanish underground where the influence of 1990’s boom-bap hip-hop is strong, both on producers and vocalists. He puts his own unique spin on the traditional boom-bap sound and has rightfully earned a prominent place in the playlists of lo-fi fiends worldwide.

Whether it’s the organic textures or the loose, flying melodies, Rios knows how to evoke nature with his music. Sometimes that nature manifests in the mind’s eye as a rolling stream, or as lush, crawling grass, or as black, boundless skies. One of his more recent releases is Beats from Energeia. He produced Energeia by the rapper Soukin, which was their second album together. Rios decided to then release only the instrumentals, and here we can find some of his dopest work.

One of our favorite cuts from Rios is “Gelato”, the first track in this weekend’s playlist and the first track on Musings Vol. 1, the first compilation from Texas-based label Dead Gorgeous Records. Rios employs a killer synth bass line that bobs and weaves through the mix, carrying the listener’s emotions with it. Rios is a relatively young man, and with this much talent, we’re excited to see where he takes his music next.

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