Akriila, Six Sex, Vita, and aLex vs aLex: Latin Club Queens

Since the turn of the millennium, Latin America has become a hotbed of electronic dance music, warping countless homegrown rhythms at block parties, bedrooms, and mega clubs across the region. In the late aughts, the futuristic cowboys of Mexico’s tribal guarachero boom launched superstars like 3BallMTY and Erick Rincón, laying the percussive foundation for Colombia’s guaracha takeover of the following decade and breakouts like Fumaratto. In Argentina, cumbia, reggaeton, and EDM fused into kitschy cachengue, while over in Brazil, the socially charged boom of baile funk turned into the favorite crib sheet of European DJs looking to spice up their techno set. You have Venezuelan changa tuki and DJ Babatr, the architect of raptor house whose influence can be heard blaring at every sweaty circuit party around the world. And in the Dominican Republic, DIY beatmakers disassembled and sped up reggaeton’s dembow riddim into hypnotic dance floor experience, paving the way for crossover sensations like El Alfa and Tokischa.

Though Latin America’s sprawling club movement is at the forefront of dance music innovation, the inclusion of women has often lagged, despite an abundance of talent. That’s started to change: Labels and collectives such as NAAFI in Mexico, Hiedrah in Argentina, and Salviatek in Uruguay helped launch the boundary-pushing careers of Debit, Tayhana, and Lila Tirando a Violeta respectively, producers experimenting with global trends and local traditions. The Brazilian party Mamba Negra made a core tenet out of elevating women, queer people, and POCs, building strong creative relationships with multi-disciplinary artists such as Cashu, Clementaum, and Jup do Bairro. Meanwhile, in the diaspora, Berlin-based DJ Edna Martínez celebrates the soundsystem hybrids of neon-lit picós booming across Colombia’s Caribbean Coast.

The dance floor can be both refuge and revolution, and throughout Latin America, women are leading the sounds and scenes committed to sweaty hedonism. From rising stars who make mutant baile funk to rave queens shaping a raunchy new wave of techno-pop, here are the divas changing the face of club music.

Easy Easy was already a cult shoegaze band in Guatemala before Sofía Insua stepped in to fill the massive shoes of their previous singer, Jesse Baez. But she gradually found her footing, and by the time she began dropping solo tracks as aLex vs aLex in 2024, Insua was already living in New York City and exploring a sultry alt-R&B sound. Her breakthrough came last year after her crossover with Divino Niño singer Camilo Medina (a.k.a. S.3.R) on the single “centro aLt,” which fused reggaeton and vallenato and sent the Chapín ingénue careening toward the dance floor, laying the groundwork for her waist-winding new EP cliché. Now is the time to hedge your bets on aLex vs aLex since opening slots for Rusowsky and Ralphie Choo, as well as a spring tour with Chet Faker, proved her gauzy SoundCloud vocals can also command packed theaters.

Trans women and femmes have emerged as arbiters of Brazil’s dance music scene, from the body politics of Katy e as Abusadas’s abrasive funk bruxaria, to Pabllo Vittar’s high-glam pop crossovers. Somewhere in the glittering middle is Vita Pereira, who first caused a ruckus as half of Irmãs de Pau, an irreverent partnership with singer and rapper Isma where baile funk and ballroom swirled into a fantasia of sex and hedonism. She broke out on her own earlier this year with Vita’s House, enlisting some of Brazil’s mightiest producers including CyberKills, Badsista, and d.silvestre, who enriched her sonic palette with blasts of guaracha and techno. Throughout the LP, sultry vocals crescendo into primal screaming over gigantic beats, capturing the agony and ecstasy of queer liberation with enough cheek to keep you focused on twerking like your life depends on it.

Argentina’s queen of perreo-rave has become a South American it-girl, landing buzzy domestic collaborations with Dillom and Emilia Mernes, and strutting into the international spotlight with guest spots on tracks from Shy Girl and Yeri Mua. Six Sex is the raunchy, doe-eyed alias of Francisca Cuello, who made a splash in neoperreo before going viral in 2024 with her Satisfire EP, which came loaded with techno-driven affirmations about being “Hot&perfecT” and running through boys like tissues on “4 noviosS.” Her debut album, Ultra, arrived this summer, cranking the party to the max with saturated gabber beats, lush visuals inspired by horror cinema, and audacious explorations of the darker side of pleasure. This year, Six Sex played Lollapalooza editions in Argentina, Chile, and Chicago, as well as Primavera Sound in Barcelona, and she just wrapped sold-out tours throughout Europe and the United States. She’ll be preaching the gospel of excess throughout South America until the end of the year.

Akriila has always been an anomaly. She made her first splash in Chile’s trap scene as the mean-mugging, ruby-haired misanthrope rapping about anime girls (“Mona Xina”) and curious about her country’s expansive folk canon (“Anticueca”). But as her star rose, so did the unwillingness to conform. Her 2024 debut Epistolares broke the internet with brazen collisions of reggaeton, K-pop, and digicore, standing toe-to-toe with contemporary titans like Taichu, Young Cister, and Princesa Alba, and capping it all with a gut-wrenching acoustic dedication to her father. As the world took notice, high-profile duets with Álvaro Díaz and Milo J exposed her to the mainstream, and soon came a record deal with Atlantic Records. However, Akriila’s sophomore effort, lucy miró el mundo y notó que está girando, again subverted expectations, embracing an introspective, grunge-inflected sound that showcased her profound collaborative relationship with producers Heartgaze and Vinco. Still, flashes of dance floor maximalism emerge, especially with the rapturous “Suave” alongside the new ace of loud music, Jane Remover.