Deorro

Few artists exemplify electronic music’s multicultural identity and polyglot future better than Deorro. Born to Mexican parents in Los Angeles in 1991, Deorro (a.k.a. Erick Orrosquieta) started out in the early 2010s as the EDM boom was gathering strength, releasing high-energy anthems for labels like Dim Mak, Spinnin’ and Ultra, and collaborating with artists like Diplo and Steve Aoki. But along with his big-room drops came more unexpected sounds, like the sax-fueled merengue-house fusion of 2016’s “Bailar”, with Elvis Crespo and Pitbull. Similar hybrids have become his stock in trade, as he’s experimented with mariachi, reggaetón, cumbia and norteño. Deorro’s versatility isn’t limited to Latin styles: His catalogue slips elegantly between genres with virtually every release, touching on sleek melodic house, big-room mayhem, low-lit R&B and even plaintive acoustic balladry. It is a testament to the belief that in electronic music, one can be whoever one wants to be—and, what’s more, one can keep changing it up, day after day.