Boza - “Barco de Papel”

SXSW 2024 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 10

Pairs Well With…Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro, Myke Towers

Panamanian artist Boza falls into reggaeton and dancehall lanes, but the warmth in his performance gives his music cool comfortability in lieu of heavily rhythmic expectations. Specifically, Boza bases his music in ‘canela’, melodies derived from Panama and then laid over pop-R&B sways. With millions of monthly streams, Boza’s softened Latin pop sound is connecting, fully accessible while still sounding fully like himself. Hip hop and dance beats play a part in Boza’s already extensive catalog as well, largely as a single artist before dropping a trio of LPs starting with 2020’s Mas Negro Que Rojo. His latest is the just-released EP Par De Quina, a collection of tracks that delve more into expressive rap than the more traditional leans that dictate Boza’s earlier records. (Kevin McStravick)