Toronto-based producer and DJ Ladji Mouflet has released “Hatuey,” a new single named after the 16th-century Taino chief who led resistance against Spanish colonizers. According to the announcement, Mouflet has Taino heritage through his mother’s lineage, and the track’s cover art incorporates Taino imagery along with tribal tattoos worn by Mouflet and his brother.
The song is built around Afro percussion and electronic production that the announcement describes as characteristic of Mouflet’s style, drawing on influences from Latin America, West Africa, the Caribbean and New York. Mouflet was raised between Harlem, the South Bronx and the Lower East Side; his mother is from the Dominican Republic and danced salsa alongside Tito Puente and Celia Cruz, while his father, of Senegalese and Martinican descent, founded a dance and music school where the family lived.
“Hatuey” is the first single from Mouflet’s upcoming album “The Pilgrimage,” which the announcement describes as an exploration of his family heritage. Mouflet’s earlier singles “Baiana 2022” and “French Bossa Nova” have surpassed 35 million and 44 million streams respectively, according to the announcement, which also states he draws 1.5 to 2.2 million monthly Spotify listeners and releases music independently through his own label, Alkebulan Records.
Based on a press release provided to Music Industry Weekly by Eric Alper, thatericalper.com.