Trueno & Nicki Nicole

Argentina's favourite couple sit down in Buenos Aires and talk about everything that has connected them personally and artistically

-  ERNESTO LECHNER

OVER THE PAST several years, two of Argentina's biggest careers have run parallel to each other. In the port city of Rosario, singer and rapper Nicki Nicole broke into the music scene when her 2019 track 'Wapo Traketero' became a hit and showcased her gritty, darkly-hued R&B sound to the world. A few months later, a massive YouTube session with the buzzy producer Bizarrap blasted her into even more fame, setting the stage for her debut album, Recuerdos. About 200 miles away, in the working-class neighbourhood of La Boca in Buenos Aires, a young rapper named Trueno was battling his way through the city's renowned freestyle scene. The son of the Argentinean rapper Pedro Peligro, Trueno's skills got him noticed and won him the national championship at Red Bull's Batalla de los Gallos competition in 2019.

Their paths finally crossed one day in 2020: Trueno had been working on his first LP, Atrevido, and he enlisted Nicki for the song 'Mamichula'. Sparks flew in the studio. "It was the best way to connect because we could express in the song everything that we wanted to say to each other in person," says Nicki with a smile. "We went on a date a few weeks later, fell hard in love, and started making tons of music together." Since then, their careers have only continued to grow: Nicki's blockbuster album Parte de Mí, from 2021, is full of transcendent collaborations with the likes of Mon Laferte and Rauw Alejandro. Earlier this year, Trueno dropped Bien o Mal, a sprawling LP that features musicians from disparate genres, pays homage to old-school rap, and reinvigorates South American hip-hop.