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2026 Mix 06: Slop and spam briefly considered, then gems from Theodora, Lella Fadda, Brazilian funk doing Latin pop, K-pop doing hypertrap, and Daptone doing Daptone.
Have unfortunately been thinking about generative A.I. and “slop” this week after having to make a determination on my first automated content regular in the comments section. (It was a reluctant block.)
I’ve started replacing the ubiquitous word “slop” with the word “spam” when thinking about machine-generated content whenever it’s applicable. The difference, I think, is one of malicious intent: not just creating shit, which is always a gamble, but flooding the zone with shit. I think if you don’t factor that in, you’re simply using machine automation to replace assumptions that were until recently attributed to a presumed group of highly cynical people—suits, grifters, mercenaries, marketers. Before it was slop, it was crap or junk. There were technically humans producing that stuff, but in the old telling, the humans had no humanity.
I am anti-spam on principle, but this doesn’t extend to being dogmatically anti-junk. Junk is often a vessel for great art, and the line between junk and non-junk depends on who’s drawing the line and why and sometimes when. Your trash might be my treasure, and today’s trash might be seen by someone else as tomorrow’s treasure, etc. I’m also pretty seasoned at this point in refusing a trash/treasure dichotomy, or at least trying to ask a more interesting question when there’s a more interesting question to ask.
The real issue with generative A.I. content in music as I see it is its potential volume and speed—that is, the problem is the collective impact of all of it together, not the features of a specific piece. As Tom Ewing wrote over on Bluesky: “Floods of slop on platforms is like ‘what if the Long Tail was gangrenous?’”
I think that’s an interesting way of putting it. But I would add that the long tail of any creative content, especially online, has always been an incoherent morass of mostly-garbage, and could easily seem gangrenous if you chose to dive into a random subsection of the tail without any sense of what you were looking for.
For what it’s worth, right now I don’t actually experience A.I.-generated music as spam, even if it functions that way on many major platforms at some level that I don’t happen to encounter much. And if it’s just a slop problem and not a spam problem, well, welcome to the party, pal. You always have to slop through the muck — muck through the slop? — to find the gems. But the gems keep coming, for now.
1. Theodora: Des mythos
DRC-France
I’m glad that my initial sense that Theodora is difficult to pigeonhole by genre is in fact the result of her not confining herself to genre. This is art-pop full stop, with an arresting video that makes a play for people who may not be as amused with, say, BBL bouyon as I am. I’d say find someone who can do both, but I don’t think you really need to find someone who can do both. Still, it probably doesn’t hurt.
2. Fcukers: L.U.C.K.Y
US
Some folks, on the other hand, really only do the one thing, but do it pretty well sometimes. I don’t know if electroclash lives, but it still generates a few pings on the heart monitor.
3. Paula Biskup: Halo?
Poland
This might be the most pandemic-coded video I’ve seen since 2020. I’ve featured Biskup at least once before, and wouldn’t have described her as bedroom-pop—not any more than any other alt-leaning dance-oriented stuff. But maybe I should!
4. Yuri Redicopa, Supernova Ent: Amapiano
Brazil
Interesting funk song that flits between lots of broader Latin American pop zeitgeists. This is maybe Yuri Redicopa’s whole deal? Despite featuring him a lot (at least six times) I apparently enjoy totally different elements of his music each time—the archives tell me I’ve singled his songs out for trot, indie rock (via a Cafuné sample), balalaika, brain-tingling clave timbre, and “real elf shit.”
5. PETERBLUE, Simona, Pablo Mayorga: Barcelongas
Colombia/Spain
Relentless house thump and steel drums from PETERBLUE and bare minimum personality signification from Simona, at which she seems to excel.
6. Ms Nina, Isabella Lovestory, King Doudou: Sucia
Spain/Honduras/France
“Would I like fast and filthy global music less if more of it was in English” is a question that comes to mind occasionally. It’s nice to be reminded that the answer is “no.”
7. éther: Dérange
Canada
Quebecoise rap, a scene that I don’t know anything about and will not bother to pretend otherwise.
8. Problema: Тваринні інстинкти [Tvarynni instinkti]
Ukraine
Ukrainian rap I have a little bit more experience with, enough to know that Problema has more impressive technical chops than a lot of the other pop-oriented Ukrainian rappers I’ve featured. One to keep an eye on.
9. Facta, Warrior Queen, Killa P: SLoPE VIP
UK
10. Dana and Alden f. Ghais Guevara: Obsidian
US
11. Zukenee: Suicide Note
US
Three rap tracks that instinctively triggered my “share the Bandcamp” Spidey Sense (4-digit or fewer views on a YouTube that is a “topic” post or not an official video), and was only off on one of them. First a UK producer that evokes some of the lighter elements of aughts grime mostly thanks to a fun guest spot from Warrior Queen. Then a Philly rapper I (somewhat self-consciously) underrated at the Singles Jukebox, with a jazz-minded production duo who wisely go less smooth to compensate. Finally an Atlanta rapper who is too popular for the Bandcamp threshold finds exactly the sort of music box hook that will trick me into sharing pretty much anything using it. Or, to quote my favorite YouTube comment:
12. Flow Glow: Punisher
Japan
It’s a VTube group, which means there is an ocean of online context I will never bother to understand. But I like to think it’s what a good Bratz song might sound like in 2026 if cartoon supergroups were still a going concern in the states. (Are they?)
13. Young Posse: Visa
South Korea
Who needs cartoons when the real thing can just put out a hypertrap masterpiece like it’s no big deal.
14. efey4hya: Hasta
Turkey
Compared to Young Posse, this Turkish rapper puts twice the effort into menacing hypernoise for about half the payoff, but half the payoff still easily clears mix inclusion.
15. ARTIGO016 f. LVNT, Mc Dioguinho: Samba
Brazil
Frank Kogan notified me of a new EP from Artigo016, a Brazilian funk DJ [EDIT: funk DJ act] whom I shared with Frank when I was the fourth view on one of his YouTube videos last year. (The above YouTube has five at press time.) I’m awful at keeping up with most of the folks I unearth in a given year, so am thankful for the nudge. Whole EP is great.
16. DJ Jeeh FDC, Iraqui ZL, Mc Dricka: Mágoas, Ódio e Rancor
Brazil
More funk, builds the beat around a pretty ambient phrase.
17. Djy Ora f. M&N Projects, You Found Axe: Sticks & Stoness
South Africa
A recommendation from Job de Wit on Blueksy, who has a great ongoing playlist here. He refers to it as amapiano with a harder edge — and the album introduces me to yet another amapiano subgenre, sgidongo (Djy Ora calls himself the Sgidongologist), which has the harder metallic edge of quantum sound but a bit more of a party atmosphere. Not that I can usually tell this stuff apart or describe it very well.
18. Veg: 再会 [Here Again]
Japan
Hard pivot to light jazz-funk from Japanese band Veg. Had been holding onto this one for a week or two looking for the right transition for them, and instead found the perfectly wrong transition.
19. Clara Roy-Jensen: Mon amour
Canada
Indie chanteuse from Montreal with a light bossa sway, not sure if it earns the full four and a half minutes, but I’ll let it ride.
20. Ora Cogan: Honey
Canada
Smoky indie rock with an alt-country bent, could use a lyric sheet but the words getting half-buried in slurred mannerisms doesn’t bother me for some reason, plus I like the piano and banjo punctuation throughout.
21. Lella Fadda: 25
Egypt
Left-field bookends of two big finds from 2025—first Theodora opening the mix and now Lella Fadda (nearly) closing it, with a slow introspective number that isn’t nearly as weird as Bb trickz’s early 2025 entry in this vein, and hopefully won’t portend the rapid crash of Bb trickz’s career, either.
22. Tiwayo: Up for Soul
France
23. The Olympians: Strawberry Kiwi
US
Ending with two neo-soul numbers, one produced by a Black Puma and the other a Daptone supergroup conjuring up forgotten classics. This particular forgotten classic-alike (“Strawberry Kiwi”) is the sort of thing that could open Season 2 of Wonder Man, the soundtrack of which surfaced a different Daptone find: Benin funk group El Rego et Ses Commandos with “Hessa.” Fun show, doesn’t devolve into a rainbow laser CGI mess or waste fifteen-minute stretches on tedious backfilled exposition.
That’s it! Until next time, if you are writing a new Marvel show, just cut the exposition and laser fights and let Ben Kingsley say something funny.
—Dave Moore (the other one)
Title translated from from Paula Biskup: “Halo?” (“może przez przypadek napiszesz”)
Pretty sure that Artigo016 are two people, at least some of the time:
Arthur Liporini (Art) and Igor Soler (igo). So far I haven't discovered whether the phrase "Article 16" has any social or historic significance.