Cheap Monk is the alias for Spainish artist Miguel Martín, his productions range from Lo-Fi Hip-Hop, Chillhop, Downtempo and everything in between, with the prevalence of soothing, lush sounds, ambient effects and Boom-Bap rhythms; drawing inspiration from artists like Emancipator, Nujabes, Porter Robinson, Joey Pecoraro and many more.
He started making Electronic Music at age 15, releasing music under different aliases, but it wasn’t until September of 2018 that he decided to release music under the Cheap Monk alias and take it more seriously.
His single “Alborada” was released under the french label Hip Dozer, who have released projects by artists like Cookin Soul, Saib, Oatmello, Juan Rios, j’san and other main acts of the genre.
Now the artist returns with a new collaborative release, in the form of the Ep Mares Sin Ley, a project made in collaboration with Pulitzer-winning journalist and author Ian Urbina for The Outlaw Ocean Music Project, which ties journalism and music in an unprecedented experiment. The whole EP is inspired by Ian’s book ‘The Outlaw Ocean’, a New York Times best seller.
The main song, “El Viaje De Mndolwa”, offers a blissful and emotive sonic reflection of the story. Downtempo percussion softly lulls as a delicate arrangement of synths and piano craft a gentle composition.
“El Viaje De Mndolwa” tells the story of David George Mndolwa, one of many stowaways that try their luck sneaking inside cargo ships, hoping to arrive somewhere where they can live a better life.
Due to terrorism fears, European and American immigration laws have tightened, with heavier penalties imposed on ships arriving with people not listed on their official crew ship or passenger manifests, shifting the responsibility of stowaways to shipping companies and their ensurers. Thus, the solution usually is getting rid of the stowaways at sea. That’s the fate Mndolwa had to endure, he was left at sea on a makeshift raft.
The song tries to express the loneliness and melancholy of his story, with the second part adding both a feeling of home with the female choir and a feeling of adventure with the main melody (Mndolwa told Ian that he would sneak up on a cargo ship again, even after what he had experienced).
Listen to El Viaje De Mndolwa below
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