Every week, La Alternativa delivers the very best from the Latin alternative scene by curating a blend of emerging and established artists within the Latin diaspora, while providing a platform to champion our growing local music scene. Listen on demand here and on 88Nine from 10-11 p.m. every Wednesday.
How can an artist feel so punk rock, be so hip-hop and still make an audience sway sensually to a bachata rhythm? Somehow, Planta Industrial make that collision feel effortless.
We kicked off the show with the two Dominican friends from the BX (Bronx like Jenny), who embody that genre-dismissing aesthetic in more ways than one. Saso and Aka The Darknight work together to create a sound that pulls from punk angst, Caribbean rhythm and hip-hop attitude, blending it all into something that feels modern, global and unmistakably rooted in the culture that raised them.
The title of the track we open with nods directly to one of Santo Domingo’s most beloved late-night institutions: Barra Payán, a legendary sandwich spot that has fueled generations of Dominicans after concerts, parties and long nights across the city. It’s the kind of place where the streets are still buzzing, the music is still in your ears and the night has not quite ended. Planta Industrial taps into Dominican street life and nostalgia while flipping it through their own genre-bending lens.
Moments like this are exactly what La Alternativa celebrates each week. Across the Latin diaspora, artists are redefining what Latin music can be, refusing to stay inside neat genre lines and instead creating something entirely their own.
Episode playlist
- Planta Industrial, “Barra Payan”
- Kei Lynch, “ya no estás”
- Chico Rivera, “Despiértame”
- LATIN MAFIA, “Siento que merezco más”
- VALÉ, “rapido”
- Luna Luna, “Solo Tu”
- Leanys, “Bésame”
- PJ Sin Suela & Jorge Drexler, “Todo Se Complica”
- Eddy & Ed Maverick, “CASI TU”
- Marion Raw, “ADIOS”
- Andry Kiddos, “asimilando”
- Cuco & Jean Carter, “My 45”
