Where The Mangos Grow - The Azomali Episode

Step Off! Radio

For the past fourteen years, Azomali, an Underground Hip-Hop artist from Freeport, New York has made a name for himself in New York’s underground Hip-Hop scene. Like many of our guests previously featured here on Step Off! Radio, Azomali regularly incorporates philosophies of decolonization, pan-Indigenous unity across, and is a vocal critic of U.S. Imperialism in his music. Whether rapping about Colombia’s beauty, incorporating ancestral sounds, spinning tales about his journeys stepping through New York City streets Azomali serves as a link between two worlds. Effortlessly switching back and forth between English and Spanish, Azomali combines both the influences of his Colombian roots with that of the gritty sounds of New York's underground. From traditional Colombian music to Boom Bap, to the modern sounds of Drill music, Azomali has created a tapestry of sounds, ideas, and philosophies in his music that sets him apart from anything being created by his peers in the underground Hip-Hop scene of New York City. Having garnered a dedicated and growing following online, Azomali has quickly become one of the prominent torchbearers at the forefront of Indigenous resistance in underground Hip-Hop far beyond the border of his home base in New York. During our discussion with Azomali, we were able to discuss his personal history growing up in the streets of Freeport, New York. His mixtape Where The Mangos Grow, his move out to Southern California, and the contrast between the East Coast and the West Coast. As well as his incorporation of decolonization and Indigenous resistance in Hip-Hop. we here at Step Off! Radio hope that you all enjoy our conversation with Azomali.