Aya Ibeji “shows out” with her first EP: After dominating the underground scene’s lineups in São Paulo, Aya Ibeji breaks down doors as a music producer, officially releasing her first EP, “Ibeji”
Text and interview by Pedro Paulo Furlan.
São Paulo, 14h. At first, my interview with Aya Ibeji, brazilian DJ and producer, was supposed to happen on Thursday, at 9 PM - but, she got booked to DJ a party at the last minute - “It was lucky that I already had the USB stick”. That’s the routine of one of the biggest rising stars in the São Paulo underground scene, there’s more and more invitations every time, so Aya always has to be ready to go.
Speaking to me on the next day about her first officially release EP, “Ibeji”, Aya talks a little bit about what made her produce this project right now: “This is a project made without a clear purpose. I really just wanted to have fun, not take it so seriously - and let what needed to come out, really come out”.
“The EP was created this year, we started it, like, three months ago”, tells me Aya, explaining that the process was something a bit looser, less elaborate and powered by her will to put out her own productions. With three tracks, “T.OMA.EH”, “BU.BBL.EHZ” e “RE.SIS.T.E.NCI.A”, “Ibeji” was released in June of this year, opening doors for Aya Ibeji.
Calling up her friend, the producer Kue, to feature on one of the tracks, Aya’s first EP to be available in streaming platforms, works as an introduction to her style and sound. Piecing together beats that stem from afrohouse, elements from different strands of funk, carioca, paulista and mineiro, and club music, “Ibeji” shows the public Aya’s current references.
“‘Ibeji’ came as this will to really release something, for the public to know that I’m also a producer, for it to be on everyone’s lips, for them to know who I am”.
From disco to house, from house to club, always heating up the dance floor
Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Aya started playing in 2019, after getting more acquainted to the party scene in the carioca capital. As soon as she got the idea to become a DJ, the project Escola de Mistérios was inaugurated in Rio, organizing parties and offering DJ and mixing classes - “that was where I learned to work the CDJ, to put songs on the USB stick”.
“In all parties I went to, the music never reached it’s peak, it never made me feel. That was one of the reasons for me to start DJing, I wanted to make people move, make them dance”.
As soon as she began to DJ, heating up the carioca night scene for a short period of time, Aya’s first passion was disco music, bringing a ton of 80’s and 90’s tracks to the dance floors. But, as she studied and researched, she diversified her set and pilled up her influences more and more, looking to widen her reach of what she played.
That was how she found house music, “it’s a sound that really shakes me, it makes me feel happy, alive - the DJ and producer tells me that her connection to house is even deeper. As a black woman, Aya Ibeji devotes herself to this kind of music because she sees herself reflected in the voices that dominate the genre.
“The voices are all black people singing, expressing all their existences. I feel like that gives me a lot of strength to keep going as the person I am - besides allowing other people to see that it is possible, in the same way I saw it was possible before”.
During our interview, I remembered Aya’s set at Ultraffair, a huge party that happened in São Paulo during Pride. In a B2B with Mirands, Batekoo’s founder - one of the biggest platforms for black culture in the underground scene, Aya mixed up house, disco, vogue beat and club music, bringing tracks produced by her friends, like, the “99 Problemas” remix by DJ’s Podeserdesligado and Nãovenhasemrosto.
Joining together all her influences, the DJ and produces feels that “today, I can make something that’s more fluid, really telling a story in my set” - creating her own sound that's undeniably Aya. That search for a sound that's only hers was also what brought her to producing, showing some of these sides to her on “Ibeji”.
“I swear, it’s only the chosen ones”
After moving to São Paulo in 2020, Aya Ibeji arrived in the middle of a pandemic, which meant that it took her a little bit to enter the underground scene and show off her sound to the São Paulo public. But, that made it possible for her to focus on her own productions - and she released her first EP on SoundCloud during this time, “onde tudo não termina”.
“I got here during the pandemic, in 2020, and I got here without really experiencing anything”, she tells me, explaining that her entry into the scene came at a later moment - but, in the meanwhile, she got close to loads of people in the scene. Even so, with friendships and connections, her entry was hard: “sometimes, it’s only the chosen ones”.
“At the same time that we need an opportunity to show off our work, people treat us with so much neglect”, Aya says, about her presence in the scene as a trans woman.
Getting bigger and bigger, Aya tells me that she notices the same things happening with new people that are looking to enter the underground, highlighting the differences that exist. Talking about transphobia, misogyny and racism in the party cycle, the producer and DJ points out the hardships she’s faces, specially with cis gay men.
“I feel like there’s a hatred of the feminine figure. Either they call you diva, mother and you’re in this pedestal for them, or you suck, and they hate you, and then they’ll be rude, step on you, push you out”.
“The action, the doing, that’s what’s missing”, answers Aya when i ask her about the next steps in creating a scene that’s more accepting to trans people, to black people. “Opening doors to everyone, that’s what’s missing, it’s not about selecting who you already love, who you already like, it’s giving an opportunity to everyone”.
Aya after ”Ibeji”
With the release of her first official EP, it begs the question, what are the next steps for Aya Ibeji. To that question, the DJ and producer has her answer on the tip of her tongue: creating more and more music - be it DJ sets or her own projects.
Still this year, Aya tells me, she’s planning on releasing a new EP, featuring her friend, the producer Podeserdesligado. With five solo tracks, besides this feature, the new project from the artist is set to hit the streaming platforms between this month and September.
To Aya Ibeji, the presence of her different friendships in her solo career is one of the most motivating parts of the creative process - “seeing more and more people opening these doors, me, my friends, all that, gives me so much energy”.
“I’m loving that everyone is starting up, making things possible and real, really throwing themselves into the world”.
Finishing up our interview, and the spoilers, Aya also reveals that she’s planning the release of one of her biggest projects for next year: her debut studio album. “With that one, I’m going very slow, because I want it to come out perfectly”, she says, telling me that the record will have more tracks than both her EP’s.
“I wanna release a real album, until 2025, I wanna release a full on record - do something like a real popstar, 10 or more tracks, you know?”.