ALI X x XIMENA is a powerhousehouse duo specialized raw techno-rap gems. They just announced an upcoming self-titled album, which will be released via their own Mexico City label CONTROLLA (pronounced con Troya). We may or may not have heard an advanced copy of said album, which may or may not - but totally does - slap! Today, we’re proud to premiere the duo’s new video PATITOS, a colorful explosion of distorted visuals and visionary dance moves. To celebrate this release, we had a chat with ALI X and XIMENA. Together, we discussed their creative process, their visual influences and their upcoming record.

After previous releases together, ALI X and XIMENA are back in force with a new single, PATITOS. Let’s talk about the music first. How did you approach this new musical collaboration?

Two years ago, we moved into a new studio / living space, our current compound in the hills at the edge of Mexico City. Along with the broadened possibilities of a new and bigger workspace came the chance to take more time and apply deep focus…We composed new works that expand on our thoughts and feelings much more than our previous one-liner approach. We are also moving away from the 4/4 monotonous death march and into whatever we want to rock the hardest at the moment. Though perhaps clouded in playful lyrical antics, we have a lot say, beyond the usual vapid techno anti-poetics.

What can we expect from your forthcoming, debut album project?

A bricolage of darkly playful spanglish raps and verse over a deluge of knocking beats, an ill AF production aesthetic and screwed-up attitude for miles….it’s a long and varied record, almost two hours…

There is an overarching pop sensibility, but it’s operating in a melange of doped-out chunky machine funk. It’s a personal record, but it puts itself right out there and we feel it’s immediately accessible, it’s half in English, and Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, entonces ….

What are the cultural references and themes behind the album?

If there is a general theme behind the album as a whole, it might be something like the embracement of individuality and personal freedom in opposition to an increasingly conformist and devaluating cultural currency. We believe in the revolutionary potential and social potency of music, and art, and are not complacent sell-outs to the plastic, hollow reproductions authoritatively occupying the communal art space. Real, raw, radical is our ethos.

What do you like about working with each other?

The combination of a battle-honed production Sicario and a naturally gifted poet/critic is a sharp and dangerous weapon against apathy and encroaching fascistic tendencies. We hit it off instantly, we grow deeper and stronger as a unit every day.

Your videos have explored different styles, from abstract visuals (THE DROP) to poetic narratives (NEVER LET YOU GO). How do you pick the style of your videos? Are there themes that you try to include, from one video to the next? Or is each video a stand-alone work?

Each video is a stand-alone work, sometimes filmed and produced in our absence by director pals of ours, as with The Drop, Never Let You Go…others are conceived and directed by ALI X with long-time collaborators, such as George Vale, who has worked with Ali since they made his Azari & III videos together; Hungry For The Power, Reckless (With Your Love), Manic. We love music but we love even more the juxtaposition of film and music, it’s such satisfying occult magic when the brew yields intoxicatingly hypnotic results.

The PATITOS video combines bold colours and visual distortion to create this sort of hallucinated choreographic pop video. What were your desires with this video?

Hallucinatory choreographic pop, you nailed it. With the first single off our debut album, we knew we wanted to go in the dark direction of the LP, with nods to pop, we love some Britney… We wanted to challenge ourselves, we wanted a distinct, kinetically visual piece free of narrative. The lighting and choreograph were the biggest and most rewarding challenges. We are a lean and independent outfit, our productions are heavily dependent on the skill, class and presence of our family of co-conspirators.

What was your experience like directing and producing this video?

It was ace! For what it’s worth, we could not be happier, we got to bust out our dusty dancing and lighting chops, and we formed a relationship with the dancers and choreographer that is continuing on into our live show.

Your music conjures a fusion of Latin American rap and techno/house. I was wondering if Latin American culture influenced the aesthetic of this video…

We are 75 % Latin American and all North American! Latino, Italo, Chicano culture is not influential to us, it is of essence! It is embedded in what we do. What you see in the video is of course not popping hydraulic low-riders and full-body turf tattoos, it’s just a close-knit cabal of radical, fun loving Latina girls bouncing their energies off of each other and conjuring the unnameable forces that help propel our vision.

What were other influences - visual, musical or otherwise - that sparked your creativity with this release?

We are made of raw juice, we hustled, we hustle, we have put in work, and ya, in the street sense, real street work no buster bullshit, we heavy in our legit phase now, we write and work from what we know, what we live, we rock our rap records, our pop divas, technoid paranoias and 80s new wave cinema - Tupac, Eazy, Mala Rodriguez, My Bloody Valentine, Andrzej Żuławski, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Steve Reich, The Bomb Squad, The Hit Men…Also, we spark our creativity twice hourly ; )-

There are a number of collaborations on the album with your fellow Controlla Records label artists. Please can you tell us about the label? It’s concept, style, and goal.

We came out with Controlla two years ago two showcases the Mexican artists we call family, to get their work out there. It quickly grew to include international artists who cohere to our general aesthetic, which is generally in flux, and it is continuing to evolve as we hone our intent and A&R more ambitious and expansive projects.

Finally, is there a significance behind releasing the album now, at the start of a new decade?

Other than the fact that the global trend towards neo-fascist, neo-liberal, neo-conservative authoritarianism is increasing the scrutiny on and viability of free artistic expression? Sure. It’s like “fuck it, why not?” The world is not going to wait for us, and we are not going to wait for the world. If there ever is a time for rambunctious, antagonistically non-conformist artistry, it is always now.

The album ALI X x XIMENA is out on May 19th via CONTROLLA.

Follow ALI X x XIMENA

SoundCloud | Bandcamp | @mfxtotheali | @ximelascu | @controllamx

COVER CREDIT: Alessandro Sozzi