Alejandra Ghersi Rodríguez (born 14 October 1989), known professionally as Arca, is a Venezuelan musician and record producer based in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, Spain. She initially began releasing music under the name of Nuuro. After attending the
Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the ...
, Ghersi first released the EP ''Baron Libre'' (2012) under the name Arca and subsequently released the EPs ''Stretch 1'' and ''
Stretch 2''; the latter experimented with
hip hop and brought her attention from prominent music publications.
She released her first two albums,
''Xen'' and
''Mutant'', in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Her eponymous third album, ''
Arca'' (2017), became the first to prominently feature her vocals. From 2020-2021, Ghersi released the ''Kick'' quintet, starting with the album ''
Kick I'' (2020) and ending with ''
Kick IIIII'' (2021); these recordings drew from styles such as
IDM,
reggaeton,
avant-pop, and
techno. Ghersi has frequently incorporated themes related to
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...
,
non-binary identification, and
psychosexuality in her work, particularly after
coming out in 2018.
Ghersi has also worked frequently with other artists as producer and collaborator. She received production credits on releases such as
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
's ''
Yeezus'' (2013),
FKA Twigs' ''
EP2'' (2013), and
Björk's ''
Vulnicura'' (2015). She has additionally contributed to music by artists such as
Kelela,
The Weeknd,
Frank Ocean
Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...
,
Planningtorock,
Rosalía and
Sia.
Early life
Arca was born in
Caracas as Alejandro Ghersi. Her father, Henrique Ghersi Rossón, is an investment banker and founder of VIP Capital (Venezuelan Investment Partners), an investment banking firm in Venezuela. Additionally, she has an older brother whose music she would frequently listen to during her childhood.
The Ghersi family relocated to
Darien, Connecticut when Ghersi was three years old, before returning to Caracas when she was nine years old. Ghersi described Darien as a "'
white picket fences'" town with "'
deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
and
tick
Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living ...
'". After returning to Caracas, Ghersi eventually began playing the
friction drum and started producing electronic music on
FL Studio. She released music in her adolescense by the name of Nuuro, and received moderate popularity in her home country, with praise from big national artists such as
Los Amigos Invisibles.
She also did collaborations with fellow Venezuelan artists during this period, such as programming the synthesizers in
La Vida Bohème's
Grammy nominated album ''
Nuestra
''Nuestra'' is the debut studio album of the Venezuelan rock band La Vida Bohème, released in August 2010. Recorded and produced by Rudy Pagliuca, it is a free download on the website of the record label All of the Above.
The album was nominated ...
''. She later attended the
Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the ...
at
NYU
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
.
Career
2012–2016: Production work, ''Stretch'' EPs, ''&&&&&'', ''Xen'', and ''Mutant''
On 1 February 2012, Ghersi released Arca's debut
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. (EP), ''Baron Libre'', through UNO NYC. Later that year, she released the ''Stretch 1'' and ''
Stretch 2'' EPs on 19 April and 6 August respectively.
In 2013, she was credited for additional production, programming and songwriting for five of the songs on
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
's ''
Yeezus'', which was released on 18 June. Ghersi also served as one of the three production consultants. That same year on 23 July, she released her debut mixtape, ''
&&&&&'' through
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...
and
Hippos in Tanks
Hippos in Tanks was a record label founded in 2010 by Barron Machat and Travis Woolsey. The label specialized in electronic music. It was named the best label of 2011 by '' FACT''. Following the death of Machat in 2015, '' The Fader'' praised the ...
. The project included an audio-visual performance alongside
Jesse Kanda, who contributed the visuals, at
MoMA PS1 in October 2013. On 17 September,
FKA Twigs' ''
EP2'' was released, on which Arca produced and co-wrote every song.
On 11 September 2014, it was announced that Arca signed with British label
Mute Records and released the lead single, "Thievery", from her then upcoming debut studio album, ''
Xen''. One more single was released prior to the album's release, "Now You Know" on 31 October 2014 alongside a music video.''Xen'' was released on 4 November 2014 via
Mute Records. Arca made significant contributions to
Björk's eighth studio album ''
Vulnicura'' which was released on 20 January 2015.
She was credited as the co-producer of seven of the tracks, and the co-writer of two. According to Ghersi, the two began collaborating after her manager sent ''&&&&&'' to Björk's team and the musician contacted her through email.
Ghersi collaborated with American singer
Kelela on her ''
Hallucinogen'' EP, which was released in October 2015. She was credited for producing, recording, mixing and co-writing two of the tracks, including the title track, which is an instrumental from ''&&&&&'' with Kelela adding improvised vocals. The following month, Arca's second studio album, ''
Mutant
In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...
'', was released on 20 November 2015. She released the ''
Entrañas
''Entrañas'' () is the second mixtape by Venezuelan electronic music producer Arca. It was released for free download on 4 July 2016 through Arca's SoundCloud page and Mediafire. It features contributions from Total Freedom, Massacooraman and M ...
'' mixtape on 4 July 2016, following the single "Sin Rumbo".
2017–2022: ''Arca'' and ''Kick'' series
On 22 February 2017, Arca signed with
XL Recordings and released "Piel", the lead single from the eponymous third studio album, ''
Arca''. The track was noted for featuring Ghersi singing which many reviewers considered a contrast from her older works. The release of ''Arca'' was preceded by three more singles: "Anoche", "Reverie" and "Saunter".
''Arca'' was released on 7 April 2017 via XL Recordings to widespread acclaim from music critics and was featured on numerous year-end lists. To promote the album, a music video for "Desafío" was released while "Saunter" and "Reverie" were released as
twelve-inch singles.
Later in 2017, Arca collaborated with Björk again on her ninth studio album ''
Utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island soc ...
'', producing the vast majority of the record. Björk explained that the album explored "the Arca-Björk overlap". A music video featuring Arca for "
Arisen My Senses
"Arisen My Senses" is the third single from Icelandic singer Björk's ninth studio album, ''Utopia'', released digitally on 21 March 2018. A "slug genitalia-coloured" vinyl remix EP was released months later on 25 May. The song was written and pro ...
" was released on 18 December 2017. Arca also collaborated with Kelela on her debut studio album, ''
Take Me Apart'', released in October 2017. Kelela said she "anchored" the album and produced a bulk of it. She is credited for producing on four tracks, and co-writing two.
In September 2019, Arca held a series of performances at
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
cultural venue
The Shed during a live shoot for a "yet-to-be released project". The series, titled "Mutant;Faith" was held from 25 September - 28 September and consisted of four acts. It was noted by fashion magazines ''
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
''s Rachel Hahn and ''
Paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distribu ...
''s Matt Moen for its improvised nature while the latter also noticed the interactive element of the performances. The performances featured guest appearances from Björk and American actor
Oscar Isaac
Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada (born March 9, 1979) is a Guatemalan-born American actor. Known for his versatility, he has been credited with breaking stereotypes about Latino characters in Hollywood. He was named the best actor of his gene ...
.
On 19 February 2020, Arca released a 62-minute single named "
@@@@@" along with an audiovisual directed by Frederik Heyman. The track was released on
XL Recordings on 21 February. Along with the single, 13 international tour dates were announced for Spring 2020. Her fourth album ''
Kick I'', featuring Björk,
Rosalía,
Shygirl and
Sophie
Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise".
People with the name Born in the Middle Ages
* Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson
* Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess o ...
, was announced on 8 March 2020 as part of an anthology and released on 26 June 2020; for this album Arca was nominated to the
Grammys 2021. in July 2020, it was announced that a reissue of ''&&&&&'' would be released and the track "Knot" was released as the lead single. The mixtape was reissued to celebrate the anniversary of
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
based
experimental label
PAN. In September 2021, Arca's remix of "
Rain on Me" by
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
and
Ariana Grande, which samples the songs "Time" and "Mequetrefe" from ''Kick I'', was released as part of Gaga's remix album ''
Dawn of Chromatica
''Dawn of Chromatica'' is the third remix album by American singer Lady Gaga, released on September 3, 2021, by Streamline and Interscope Records. Consisting of remixes of songs from her sixth studio album, ''Chromatica'' (2020), the album emb ...
''.
The follow-up albums to ''Kick I'', titled ''
Kick II
''Kick II'' (stylized as ''KICK ii'') is the fifth studio album by Venezuelan record producer and singer Arca. The album was scheduled to be released on 3 December 2021, but released early on 30 November 2021, through XL Recordings as a continua ...
'', ''
Kick III
''Kick III'' (stylized as ''KicK iii'') is the sixth studio album by Venezuelan record producer and singer Arca. The album was scheduled to be released on 3 December 2021, but released early on 1 December 2021, through XL Recordings as a continu ...
'' and ''
Kick IIII
''Kick IIII'' (stylized as ''kick iiii'') is the seventh studio album by Venezuelan record producer and singer Arca. The album was scheduled to be released on 3 December 2021, but released early on 2 December 2021, through XL Recordings as a cont ...
'', were originally scheduled to be released on December 3, 2021.
However, starting with ''Kick II'' on November 30, albums were released in sequence within that week. A fifth installment, ''
Kick IIIII'', was released "as a surprise" on December 3.
Arca co-produced the track "
Tears in the Club
"Tears in the Club" (stylized in all lowercase on the album version only) is a song by English singer-songwriter FKA Twigs, featuring vocals from Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was released on 16 December 2021, as the lead single from Twigs' fir ...
" by FKA Twigs featuring Canadian singer
the Weeknd, which was released later that month as the lead single for FKA Twigs' mixtape ''
Caprisongs''. Arca also produced the track "Thank You Song" by FKA Twigs, the closing track from the same mixtape.
Artistry
Musical style and lyrical themes
Ghersi's work published under the Arca name has been labelled as
experimental music,
hip hop music and
IDM, while her music released under Nuuro has been described as "
electronic indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...
" and "
dreamy synth-pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
".
She frequently incorporates themes of
psychosexuality,
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
and
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...
into her music.
Ghersi's music as Arca has been compared to the music of British electronic producer
Aphex Twin while the eponymous album ''Arca'' (2017) was compared to compositions by German composers
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
and
Felix Mendelssohn.
The latter is known for being her first album as Arca to prominently incorporate lyricism. ''Stretch 1'' and ''Stretch 2'' which were released in 2012, have been compared to hip hop and
club music.
Reviewing ''Mutant'' (2015), Mark Richardson retrospectively compared ''Xen'' (2014) to
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...
while the former leaned "toward
soundscape".
''Xen'' was noted by ''
The Quietus'' Gary Suarez to contain themes of gender and
sexuality which were opined to be mainly implicit through the album's music videos. ''Kick I'' (2020) has been considered
avant-pop while
reggaeton was a prominent genre featured, on ''Kick II'' (2021). ''Kick III'' (2021) has been noted of its influences of IDM while ''Kick IIIII'' (2021) has been dubbed
ambient techno music.
''Kick IIIII'' (2021) has been dubbed "dark
electronica" music by Joe Goggins of ''
DIY''.
Influences
During her childhood, Ghersi cites her brother's music, which included Aphex Twin, British musician
Squarepusher and Björk as heavily influencing her.
According to Ghersi, the latter inspired her to use her voice prominently on her eponymous third studio album, ''Arca'' and also helped her "find" her voice, following the development of a creative partnership between the pair. She has also cited her love for
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...
which influenced the making of ''Kick I''.
Arca also cites
Madonna as an influence, saying: "I don’t know if I can't overstate how major Madonna’s music and persona were in my household".
She cited German composer
Richard Wagner's ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen'' as a primary inspiration for the ''Kick'' series and called
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gen ...
s the place she found a "home".
Remezcla's Alberto De La Roza noted the influence of reggaeton on Ghersi's work.
Visuals
From 2012 to 2018, Ghersi often collaborated with Jesse Kanda on the visual aspect of her albums. He created the album artwork for her albums ''Xen'' (2014), ''Mutant'' (2015) and ''Arca'' (2017). She also collaborated with German photographer and director
Daniel Sannwald to create her music videos. The imagery featured in the artwork for Ghersi's single "Vanity" and the music video for her single "Thievery" were marked as
NSFW,
the former of which, resulted in a temporary ban on her
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
account.
For the ''Kick'' series, Frederik Heyman created the album artwork for all of the albums
except for ''Kick I'', which was created by her,
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
artist
Carlota Guerrero
Carlota Guerrero (born 1989 in Barcelona) is a Spanish artist, photographer, filmmaker, and art director. She is known for exploring themes of femininity and body autonomy.
Biography
Carlota Guerrero was born and brought up in Barcelona. She t ...
and Spanish multimedia artist Carlos Sáez.
Personal life
Arca came out as
non-binary in 2018, later adding that she identifies as a
trans woman
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and s ...
, and goes by
she/her
In Modern English, ''she'' is a singular, feminine, third-person pronoun.
Morphology
In Standard Modern English, ''she'' has four shapes representing five distinct word forms:
* ''she'': the nominative (subjective) form
* ''her'': the accu ...
and
it/its pronouns.
As of 2022 Arca has stated on her
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
bio that she also uses
they/them
Singular ''they'', along with its inflected or derivative forms, ''them'', ''their'', ''theirs'' and ''themselves'' (or ''themself''), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun. It typically occurs with an unspecified antecedent, in sentence ...
pronouns. In 2020 she stated in an interview for
''Vice'': "I see my gender identity as non-binary, and I identify as a trans Latina woman, and yet, I don't want to encourage anyone to think that my gayness has been banished. And when I talk about gayness, it's funny because I'm not thinking about who I'm attracted to. It's a form of cultural production that is individual and collective, which I don't ever want to renounce".
Arca lived in London and resides in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
as of 2018.
She dated Daniel Sannwald, and later the Spanish multimedia artist Carlos Sáez, who has often collaborated in the realization of her projects. The song "Failed" is written about her relationship with the former
while the song "Calor" chronicles her relationship with the latter.
Discography
* ''
Xen'' (2014)
* ''
Mutant
In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...
'' (2015)
* ''
Arca'' (2017)
* ''
Kick I'' (2020)
* ''
Kick II
''Kick II'' (stylized as ''KICK ii'') is the fifth studio album by Venezuelan record producer and singer Arca. The album was scheduled to be released on 3 December 2021, but released early on 30 November 2021, through XL Recordings as a continua ...
'' (2021)
* ''
Kick III
''Kick III'' (stylized as ''KicK iii'') is the sixth studio album by Venezuelan record producer and singer Arca. The album was scheduled to be released on 3 December 2021, but released early on 1 December 2021, through XL Recordings as a continu ...
'' (2021)
* ''
Kick IIII
''Kick IIII'' (stylized as ''kick iiii'') is the seventh studio album by Venezuelan record producer and singer Arca. The album was scheduled to be released on 3 December 2021, but released early on 2 December 2021, through XL Recordings as a cont ...
'' (2021)
* ''
Kick IIIII'' (2021)
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arca
1989 births
Living people
20th-century LGBT people
21st-century LGBT people
Audio engineers
Electronic dance music DJs
Experimental musicians
Hip hop record producers
Industrial musicians
LGBT DJs
LGBT people in Latin music
LGBT musicians from Venezuela
LGBT singers from Venezuela
LGBT songwriters
Musicians from Caracas
Mute Records artists
Non-binary musicians
Tisch School of the Arts alumni
Transgender musicians
Transgender women musicians
Transgender non-binary people
Venezuelan DJs
Venezuelan electronic musicians
Venezuelan expatriates in England
Venezuelan expatriates in Spain
Venezuelan expatriates in the United States
Venezuelan performance artists
Venezuelan record producers
Women in electronic music
Women in Latin music