Q&A with GRIIEGO: "I don’t think there’s much difference between what I do and traditional pop"
Hyperpop fills every empty space of a song’s running time. There’s no lull or pause that can’t be sealed with a beep, vroosh, or pew-pew. In Puerto Rico, where reggaetón and Latine trap reign together over music fan’s attention, some artists have staked out their own corner and offered something decidedly different. One such artist is GRIIEGO, who has become one of the leading names of the local hyperpop scene. His album, last year’s METEORA, became an immediate favorite, garnering praise even from traditional rappers who were intrigued by its chaotic synths and wildly experimental vocal distortions.
Horror vacui once said the Greek philosopher Aristotle, or, “nature abhors a vacuum”. It was an argument of ancient physics, since then interpreted and applied generously to numerous other subjects: The emptiness in one’s mishandled or lovelorn heart is inherently unnatural, and so must be hastily replaced. Absent seats of power compel hungry-eyed leaders to fill them, sometimes for better and often for worse. We identify social, technological, and economic vacuums that need to be met and fulfilled for the betterment of the wider community, and so on and so forth. The dishwasher? Social security? In the end, they all have the same origin in necessity.
Beyond that, and closer to our interests, is that audiences abhor vacuums too. “Streets demand”, in our parlance. When an artist goes on an extended sabbatical or when a sound becomes stale, a window of opportunity opens to invite any takers to fill that void. The origins of the most popular and inventive music genres can be distilled down to “I wish X was faster paced” (sound familiar?) or “I’d like X if it were hornier” (I’m looking at you, quiet storm R&B).
But, ex nihilo nihil fit. “Nothing comes from nothing”, as proposed by the Grecian cosmologist Parmenides. A few weeks ago, Listening Party talked to GRIIEGO about his background, what drives him towards the music he makes, his upcoming album, and more.
(The following quotes have been translated, edited, and condensed for clarity.)
What’s your name, and where are you from?
My name is GRIIEGO and I’m from Caimito, in San Juan. The outskirts of San Juan!
Where does the name “GRIIEGO” come from?
It comes from my last name, which is Román (Roman) and so “griego” (Greek) is the antithesis of that. It has two I’s because I just felt that made it more distinctive.
When did you start to get interested in music, and what did you listen to growing up?
I grew up with my family playing in church and music events — my mom sings, and my dad plays guitar and piano. So, since I was little I was exposed to music. My favorite genres growing up were rock, pop… lots of danceable music, 80’s house music, punk, and even sometimes gospel.
What is it that interests you about these music genres like glitchcore and hyperpop? How would you explain to someone what appeals to you about them?
What I like about those genres is how versatile I can be in regards to my chorus variations and how I can articulate my verses. I can be simple, or I can be very dynamic, and either way it’ll favor the song because the tracks already have an energy to them — the same energy you find in pop songs, and adding that “hyper” element only makes it come alive more. It allows me to go beyond the traditional [sound] of the songs while still staying true to their normal structure.
When I explain to people my music, I simply say I do pop. Danceable music, easy to digest; it’s pretty easy when it comes to the synthesis [of it]. I don’t think there’s much difference between what I do and traditional pop. The “hyper” adds more, but people still relate to the structure and lyrics of the songs.
What inspired you to start producing and singing? How did you start sharing your music?
I started making music when I was in 10th grade, where I would record myself but not release them. It wasn’t until 11th or 12th grade that I started putting them on SoundCloud. After that, for personal life reasons, I took a long break from making music around my 2nd year of college. About five years later, in 2020, I started making music again and releasing it. That was when I started elaborating on what is now the essence of GRIIEGO.
I heard recently in a podcast interview you gave that singing live isn’t something that necessarily interests you. Why is that?
It’s not so much that I’m not interested in performing live, but that I enjoy more the part of creating the hype around me; the less I am onstage, the more I’m creating this stockpile of energy that’ll make people want to see me. That way when it finally happens, it’s like an explosion of “wow finally, here’s GRIIEGO singing [for us].”
After METEORA came out you released the single “Ä$TRØ$” where you started to incorporate more trap stylings into your sound, and then the following single “MEPERD¡” had more tropical music elements. Is that something you see yourself experimenting with going forward?
In this new project I’m working on now there’s going to be surprises because I’ve been experimenting with those tropical elements, and more from other countries. I see myself experimenting with them to also expand my lyrical capacity because they’re things I haven’t attempted before; they’re completely outside the hyperpop-esque [sound] I tried to give METEORA.
You started to make music relatively recently, but your name has already gotten traction and garnered you loyal fans. How does it feel to experience such a positive reaction to your work?
It’s a little surreal, and sometimes I still find it hard to believe when I see people identify with the art and music I’ve put out. I’m impressed seeing how warm people have been towards me, and it makes me really happy.
I say it’s hard to believe because it’s also… strange, in some ways, because I don’t [personally] know most of the people that listen to me and seeing them completely embrace my music and reach out to me online or stop to say "hello" when they recognize me, it’s surreal but nice at the same time.
What do you have planned for the rest of this year? What’re you cooking up?
Right now I’m in the process of creating my new album which’ll be called ASTROS. It’ll be GRIIEGO’s newest phase of experimentation. It’s going to be darker and less poppy than METEORA, which had more sentimental tracks. This one will be more about how I feel inside about myself, as opposed to METEORA which was more about a love story I envisioned. ASTROS will come out this year, but I don’t have a date yet.
For those interested in discovering more artists in the same vein as your music, which can you recommend from both Puerto Rico and outside?
I know it’s a cliché answer, but I listen a lot to all the members of 3X00 especially deadperrx and djeii. I also love Nueva Cría and that whole crew. Dúo Deleite, Gyanma and Enyel — lots of acts from the indie scene are great and have cool sounds. As far as international artists that have influenced me there’s Rojuu, Sa!koro, and Saramalacara. There’s lots of artists from Europe and Latin America that have a sound that’s very very very futuristic and different from what you hear nowadays and from what people consume. In Puerto Rico you don’t get exposed to it too much because we’re used to a certain kind of music, but that’s what we’re trying to do here — to try and reach Puerto Rico with that sound, and also hope people discover it and vibe with the music. VEI HABACHE and FANTA ROSARIO too, those are all artists people should listen to.