OJOS is an emerging and somewhat mysterious French male-female duo, whose work and aesthetic is rooted in duality and the tension behind that duality: Featuring lyrics half-written and half-sung in Spanish and French, the members of OJOS specialize in a sound that they’ve described as being half pop, half hip-hop. Thematically, their work frequently explores the tensions between love and hate, kindness and violence, madness and reason — all while promoting and defending the equality of the sexes.
“Peligrosa,” the first single from the duo’s sophomore EP is a swaggering banger featuring tweeter and woofer rattling trap beats, shuffling Latin-inspired percussion, wailing sirens, glistening synth arpeggios and wobbling bass lines paired with Elodie’s decidedly hip-hop-like delivery in Spanish and French and an enormous, shout-along worthy hook.
While sonically seeming like a seamless mesh of M.I.A., and JOVM mainstays Sofi Tukker, “Peligrosa” is inspired by a real fucked up life experience: Back in 2016, Elodie received death threats online from a photographer. Fast forward to 2019: The duo learns that the same photographer, who sent Elodie death threats actually made a feminist documentary about his sister. The song calls actively calls out phonies like that photographer, who are real dangers to everyone and anyone around them — but it also sees its narrator boldly taking back power without fear.
Directed by Valerian7000, the accompanying video for “Peligrosa” employs glitchy, Windows 95-inspired graphics, including the hated blue screen of death while capturing the duo rock out. It’s deceptively playful while capturing the duo’s energy.
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