Banding together in 1997 in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, hip-hop collective Latejapride soon carved a niche for themselves with their genre-straddling sound, drawing on eclectic influences from soul and electronic music to make for innovative results. Fronted from day dot by brothers Davich and Leonidas, who both MC and also dabble in production and DJing respectively, the crew has seen a great number of members come and go, with various instrumentalists enjoying brief stints as affiliates of the crew. Initially building their fanbase on a regional label in the late ‘90s with a self-titled EP and a sound heavily dependent on jazz samples, the group eventually pivoted to more downtempo arrangements, first showcasing this newly refined sound on the 2002 EP Sueños de Invierno. Impressed with the project, Bizarro offered them a record deal, and their debut LP, Filosofías de Insomnio, arrived via the label the following year. Drawing on contemporary trip-hop influences, the album was well-received by fans. However, the clique underwent another significant transformation ahead of their 2005 sophomore album, the melancholic, guitar-led Tiempos Modernos, before returning to their roots with 2007’s deeper, darker Efecto Dominó. They received both the El País Iris Award for Album of the Year and a coveted Graffiti Award for the LP, signalling a major commercial breakthrough. Maintaining their biannual release cycle, they returned in 2009 with Nómades, and have since enjoyed incremental growth after making the step into the streaming era. The collective’s fifth LP, Los Palabras y la Tormenta, spawned a hit in “Juega Sola”, while their 2015 effort, Cazadores de Gigantes, proved more popular, with the funk-tinged Santi Mostaffa collaboration “Cosmonauta” accruing hundreds of thousands of streams. The group have since returned with an infrequent run of non-album singles including 2020's “Hábito”.
