Argentine Rap Star Trueno Opens for Gorillaz at Tottenham Stadium, New Album 'Turr4zo' Fuses Tango and Cumbia
Argentine rapper Trueno (born Mateo Palacios Corazzina) recently spoke to NME about supporting Gorillaz at London's Tottenham Stadium — performing live in Spanish for roughly 60,000 people, including the first live airing of tracks from his new album Turr4zo. The 24-year-old grew up in La Boca, a working-class neighborhood in Buenos Aires, and was introduced to freestyle rap culture early on by his father, MC Pedro Peligroso.
'Turr4zo': An Experiment in Argentine Roots
His fourth album, Turr4zo, was co-produced with Spanish producer El Guincho (known for his work with Rosalía, Camila Cabello, and Amaarae), and marks a sharp turn toward Argentina's own musical traditions. "X Unas Llantas" samples tango icon Carlos Gardel, the title track "Turrazo" samples cumbia group Los Wachiturros, and "Con El Combo" builds its backbone from the strings of 1970s singer Sandro. Trueno describes El Guincho's approach as taking "a beautiful, clean song and making it dirty, then putting a hip-hop beat under it" — a moment he says confirmed their creative direction together.
His latest single, "Pumas," incorporates the rhythms of Argentina's chacarera folk tradition and features 19-year-old rising star Milo J, echoing a broader shift also seen in Bad Bunny's DTMF, which embraced Puerto Rican reggaetón roots. In the interview, Trueno argues that Latin America's "urban music" scene, long defined in relation to American hip-hop, is now reconnecting with its own regional identities.
Politically Charged Lyrics and the Gorillaz Stage
Trueno's earlier work — including "F*ck El Police" (which samples NWA's "Fuck the Police") and "RGL" (which samples Eve's "Blow Ya Mind") — built his reputation in Argentina as a politically outspoken artist, with lyrics addressing police violence and the historical wounds of the Falklands/Malvinas War. The Tottenham Stadium show marked the biggest stage of his career so far; the opportunity, extended by Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, gave him a formal introduction to English-speaking audiences for Turr4zo.
The full NME interview is available on NME's website.