Madrid trap artist C. Tangana reprises his gangster alter ego in his latest single and video, Para Repartir, or To Give Away. Produced by previous collaborator, Barcelonas Alizzz, the new song craftily melds old-school son Cubano sounds with just a touch of Tanganas signature trap beats.
Directed by Santos Bacana, the new video takes after Tanganas previous, Old Hollywood-tinged clip for Un Veneno. Filmed this past March in Havana, Cuba, Tangana plays a trickster with an insatiable lust for local women, gambling and other peoples motorbikes. Donning a black cowboy hat, Buena Vista Social Clubs legendary singer-guitarist, Eliades Ochoa, makes a cameo appearance during a game of dominoes; he sits across from a shifty-eyed Tangana, who chews menacingly on a Cuban cigar. The rapper proceeds to collect fat stacks of cash from the game, and sweeps a freckle-faced cocktail waitress off her feet but the young woman, played by Yeleine Nolazco, appears to know more than she lets on. Tangana, then pursued by two goons, stuffs the pile of Cuban pesos into a leather suitcase and hurls it towards the sea.
The [Cuban] lifestyle is something I had not experienced anywhere else, Tangana writes to Rolling Stone. I was going for the music. I had fantasized so much with [director] Santos Bacana about this trip. For us, traditional Cuban music is the mother of so many music styles and genres that we love. That Afro-Latino mix is enchanting. We wanted to live and experience the music, where we understand it came from but in the end we took in so much more. We found a whole new way of living and feeling.
Now living in Los Angeles where hes established his own milieu of Spanish artists, known as Little Spain Tangana most recently collaborated with R&B singer Miguel on his recent Spanish-language EP, Te Lo Dije, on the track Criminal. He is currently plotting a follow-up to his 2018 album, Avida Dollars.