As Latin club continues to explode, Florentino is carving out a space for global stars to bring their music to the UK.
On February 16, Florentino, alongside Swing Ting, will launch Club Romantico at Soup Kitchen in Manchester. The party will focus specifically on Latin club music and will feature guest sets from some of the most exciting DJs and producers working in Latin club genres; Madrid-via-Argentina DJ Flaca will be his guest on the inaugural night.
A member of Madrid collective CHICA, a platform for creating spaces for women artists across disciplines, Flaca wowed last year with her Peligrosa mixtape hosted by reggaeton luminary Ms. Nina. Already a key member of the Spanish urban scene and Latin community, Flaca’s contribution to the debut edition of Club Romantico will be reflective of her thoughts on why Latin club genres are blowing up right now. “The children of migrants [are] channeling their roots and mixing them with what we see every day either in real life or through the internet,” she says. “The space and platform for us to do this has only recently come into existence in a way thats prominent and it’s super important that it’s maintained.”
And that’s part of what Club Romantico is all about. Florentino says you can expect to sweat and expect to dance if you don’t know how but he sees this as a foundational moment to connect the way we share global music online to the IRL dancefloor. “We exist in such a URL point in time. We are more connected but also more disconnected than ever before. Club nights are a holy space where you can forget about all that and tune in to yourself and others in a way that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to,” he says. “We’re all plugged in way too much and connecting in a way that only digs so deep. The moments you experience when a group of people in a club are in control of the musical narrative can really help connect cultures in a way that the internet could only hope to achieve.”
In honor of the new night, FACT had Flaca and Florentino curate a playlist of some of their favorite Latin club tracks. RSVP for Club Romantico here.
Tracklist:
Demphra – ‘Mal Polvo’
Soto Asa – ‘Me Gustaron Tus Nai’ [Feat. Yung Beef]
Luny Tunes – ‘La Gata Suelta’ [Feat. Noriega & Glory]
Bad Bunny – ‘Cuando Perriabas’
Fuego & Nicky Jam – ‘Good Vibes’
Papichamp & ECKO – ‘Árabe’
DJ Kelvin El Sacamostro – ‘Candy Perreo’ [Feat. DJ Peligro]
Nfasis – ‘Tra Tra’
La Montra – ‘Que Perra Mi Amiga’
El Futuro Fuera De Orbita – ‘Fotocopiadora’
DJ Nelson – ‘Nelson Tu Eres Un Loco’
El Alfa – ‘Tarzan’
Voltio – ‘Bumper Beat’
Kelman Duran – ‘6s’ [Feat. DJ NA]
Kaydy Cain – ‘K-Llao’ [Feat. Los Del Control]
Villanosam – ‘Pica Pollo’
Maicol Y Manuel – ‘Mueve Tu Cuerpo Mix’ [Feat. Alberto Stylee]
Mc 2K – ‘Na Maciota’
Ceky Viciny – ‘Bajé Duro’
Kelela & Joey LaBeija – ‘Joey LaBeija_Better_107 Bpm (Joey LaBeija Remix)’
[Ed. note: ‘La Gata Suelta’ is not available on Apple Music.]
Read next: A beginner’s guide to the history and hybridity of reggaeton
