Tango singing and trap beats meet halfway on “Plutón”, an electro-tango track with a dark edge and a lyric that wrestles with questions of existence. Nazarena Cáceres hears tango, trap and hip-hop as relatives: “These genres have their urban character in common. They are related in rhythm, in accents that are very compatible, and in their African roots.”
The song appeared on Templanza, the four-track EP she released herself in March 2021, where her lyrics first met electronic productions that pulled her tango towards trap and hip-hop. Cáceres puts it simply: “I’m always trying to join extremes, looking for the middle point.” The EP’s title, Spanish for temperance, names that balancing act.
The voice on “Plutón” learned its trade in tango. Born in Montecarlo, in Argentina’s north-eastern province of Misiones, Cáceres started violin at 12 at the Manuel de Falla conservatory before making her name on the contemporary tango scene in Buenos Aires with Orquesta Típica La Martino and Chifladas. She won the Hugo del Carril singing contest in 2014 and later ran Estudio Tango Contemporáneo, where she coached other singers.