GANJAOLOGY PRESENTS: COLOR AMOR 420 MIXTAPE!!! FREE DL!!!

Hailing from Mar Del Plata, Argentina, Adrian Espinosa, but better known as COLOR AMOR, is a growing and leading influence in his countries heavy bass music scene.  Ganjaology.org and The Coventry Kids have been lucky enough to share some music, collaborate on a mixtape, and present you with an interview about the Argentinian bass fanatic.

I first learned of the young producer about a year ago after I came across his Slow Burning mixtape on SoundCloud.  This mix held a sound I was slightly familiar with, but also contained a lot of new mash-up qualities that came out as foreign sounds to my ears.  This music womped and kicked like dubstep, but kept a beat that sent memories of Latino clubs through my leg muscles.  I was instantly impressed.  This style of bass music is called cumbia bass or cumbiastep and incorporates hip-hop, heavy bass music, and cumbia, which originated  in the south Caribbean and in Columbia.

Cumbia began solely with African drums and shakers, but was later intertwined with European musical characteristics and instruments.  Cumbia is most popular in Columbia, The Caribbean, Argentina, and Chile, which is why Argentina is one of the driving forces behind the cumbia bass music scene today.  It was a brand new unique sound flowing through the air of my apartment.

I listened to Slow Burning frequently throughout the next few months while Color Amor was consistently adding new mixes to his SoundCloud page.  Over the past year he has had 10 releases and received over 12,000 combined plays on SoundCloud while maintaining a highly renowned reputation for his moving and unconventional graphic art and paintings.

I got in touch with Color Amor via email to reach out and bring the bass community of the America’s together and that is exactly what happened.  It took a little longer than anticipated, but we were able to get a short interview and a mixtape put together to share with the world.  We went back and forth about some ideas about the mix itself and also about album cover work and while I was at BassCoast Music Festival this past week Color Amor dropped the final artwork for the mix into my Inbox and uploaded the finished mix to Soundcloud. I am proud to present the first ever Color Amor interview by The Ganjaologist and the Color Amor 4:20 Mixtape Powered by Ganjaology.org and The Coventry Kids.  Here we go!

Me: Lets start off with having you tell me a little bit about yourself, where you are from, how old are you, what kind of music you grew up listening to, how you got started as a producer and DJing…basically the origins of Color Amor.

Color Amor: Hey! I’m Adrian Espinosa a.k.a. Waze.  Color Amor is my personal music project (bass music DJing and producing beats). I’m born and raised in Mar del Plata, Argentina and am 22 years old.  Ever since I was little I have been listening to hip-hop, reggae, and electronic music.  In the last few years I have began to listen to more and more dub, dubstep, trip-hop, but still keep on with hip-hop and reggae too.

Me:  How did the name Color Amor come to represent you?

Color Amor: Along with being a Dj and producer I am a graphic designer.  I love color! EL COLOR DEL AMOR(THE COLOR OF LOVE), de que color es el amor(what is the color of love)?  You tell me…haha.

Me: Who are some of the musical artists that have influenced your sound the most over the last few years?

Color Amor:  Manu Chao, Eek A Mouse, King Tubby, The Roots, Cypress Hill, Flying Lotus, Prefuse 73, Run DMC, KRSOne, Rusko, Modeselektor, Bjork, Daleduro, Die Antwoord, Jedi Mind Tricks, Marcianos Crew, and Army of Dub just to name a few…

Me: What was the first event you ever played/hosted?

Color Amor: The first dubstep and cumbiastep parties I was djing were called YOUKNOW parties.  They are still goingon. I perform at them to this day.  They have been extremely cool, good people!

Me: What was the first album you ever bought?

Color Amor: Haha, the first album I ever bought was Michael Jacksons (RIP) Dangerous.  This was when I was 8 years old too!

Me: Have you been able to tour around Argentina or outside of your country yet?

Color Amor: Unfortunately no.  I currently only play music in Argentina.  Plaves like Cordoba, Mendoza, Buenos Aires, Neuquen…these are all different provinces or states of Argentina.

Me: What was your first experience with dubstep?

Color Amor: My first dubstep exposure was in 2009 when I was watching Daleduro perform at a Chaav party.  Daleduro is a BIG influence for me.  He is a big artist and I had a chance to meet him.  He is an amazing guy and really professional.  It was a very inspirational moment.

Me: What is your favorite song you have produced? Why?

Color Amor: My favorite song I’ve produced is called “Nos Estan Matando” or “They Are Killing Us” (That is the literal translation).  This song holds a very real message and draws attention to an important issue at hand.

Me: So outside of music what does your life consist of?

Color Amor: Well, I am a graphic designer and graphic artist.  I love drawing, painting, and anything that allows me to work out my creativity.  That’s  how I spend my days!  I also love to paint graffiti.  You can check out my works of art here at www.flickr.com/colorlove .

Me: What are some of your goals for 2011? What can your fans expect from Color Amor in 2011?

Color Amor: I just hope to keep playing, learning, and improving.  My idea is to play music as much as possible, sticking with the bass music and hip hop that I love, and overcome challenges I face along the way!

Me: Speaking of bass music you love…can you give me your definition of Cumbiastep?

Color Amor: It’s like a combination of hip-hop, bass music (dubstep), shakers, and the tropical sounds of cumbia…or that’s how I read it haha.  It is mainly played in South America…Argentina, Chile, and Colombia specifically.

Me: Is the dubstep in Mar Del Plata still considered underground music or has the music made its way into more mainstream clubs?

Color Amor: The dubstep, cumbiastep, and cumbiabass are DEMASIADO!!!  That means TOO NEW!!! People are beginning to meet these styles of music now, but it is still very underground.

Me: What type of development do you think dubstep and cumbiastep need in Argentina?

Color Amor: For now I think the only thing that will have a huge effect is time.  People will become exposed to this new music and hopefully clubs will begin looking for the new styles.

Me: Anything else you want to say before we wrap this up?

Color Amor: Yes, Thank you for the interview and for having interest in my music! It was a pleasure recording the mixtape for Ganjaology and The Coventry Kids.  We will stay in touch, and to all my fans in the US, keep your eyes out for Color Amor in the USA!

-Adrian Espinosa aka Color Amor aka WAZE