The votes are in, and MTV Iggy’s artist of the week is tribal guarachero pioneer Sheeqo Beat!

If you like Bomba Estereo and Maria y Jose, you’re already a fan of this year-ish old genre. Tribal guarachero is a hodgepodge of pre-Hispanic Latin folk sounds set to dark, dirty, club-friendly electronics — though Sheeqo’s intense tribal atmospherics are not for the faint of heart.

The very young, at times teenaged collective 3Ball MTY (pronounced”tribal Monterrey”) have harnessed the  scene in Monterrey, and Sheeqo Beat is one of their prized wunderkinds.

Cohort of the ubiquitous Monterrey producer Toy Selectah, Sheeqo’s singles, mixes, and remixes have touched everything, from the Tijuana ruidoson scene, to the Monterrey clubs, to the bootleg underbelly of Mexico’s street markets.

Sheeqo will grace MTV Iggy’s home page all week. In the meantime, he chatted with us about the drug war in Mexico, his chance meeting with Toy Selectah, and what tribal guarachero is up to these days.

How old are you now? Are you the youngest DJ you know?
A month ago I turned 19. Other young DJs I know would be Erick Rincon (17) and DJ Otto (18)

[Hace 1 mes cumplí 19 años, otros DJs jovenes que conozco serían: Erick Rincon (17 Años) y DJ Otto (18 Años)]

Do you listen to a lot of different kinds of music besides electronic music?
I listen to a little bit of everything. I listen to reggae, cumbia, pop, dubstep, rock, among others.

[Yo escucho un poco de todo. Escucho reggae, cumbia, pop, dubstep, rock, entre otros.]

How did you get hooked up with Toy Selectah? What’s it like working with him?
I know Toy Selectah because he started to see and listen to the Tianguis CDs [bootlegged CDs from the traditional Mexican market Tianguis] — 3Ball MTY, Sheeqo Beat, DJ Otto, Erick Rincon. He listens to a lot of music, but he says that ours really struck him. Then I think a few days after, Toy Selectah wrote me via Myspace summoning us to his studio, and from there, we’ve been working. Working with Toy Selectah is something incredible because he has a lot of experience with music and he shares it.

[A Toy Selectah lo conocí por que empezó a ver y escuchar en los CDs del Tianguis: 3Ball MTY, Sheeqo Beat, DJ Otto & Erick Rincón; el escucha mucha música, pero dice que lo de nosotros le llamo mucho la atención, entonces yo creo que unos dias despues, Toy Selectah me escribe vía Myspace, citándonos en su estudio y de ahi hemos estado trabajando. Trabajar con Toy Selectah es algo increíble porque tiene mucha experiencia en la música y la comparte.]

 

Is there a difference between 3ball and Tribal Guarachero?
There isn’t a difference. People started to use the word “3ball” for us (3Ball MTY) to refer to the genre tribal guarachero. Truthfully it’s just something that we liked and had an impact on us.

[No hay diferencia, las personas empezaron a utilizar la palabra "3ball " por nosotros (3Ball MTY) para referirse al genero Tribal Guarachero, la verdad, es algo que nos gusto e impacto mucho!]

You’ve remixed some ruidoson tracks — by Maria y Jose and Los Macuanos. What do you like about ruidoson? Do you think you’ll ever produce some too?
I like everything about ruidoson, its structure, its basslines — EVERYTHING! Truthfully I dont think I’ll produce it. I feel like ruidoson is in those people you pointed out (Los Macuanos, Maria y Jose, and Santos) but of course there are more collaborations soon!

[Me gusta todo del Ruidosón, su estructura, sus basslines, TODO! , y la verdad no pienso producirlo. Siento que el Ruidosón esta con las personas indicadas (Los Macuanos, María y José & Santos) pero claro que hay más colaboraciones pronto!]

If you could work with any artist in the world who would it be?

Next: “There’s a Huge Market for Drugs”