Mojo (UK)

Alynda Lee Segarra

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF’S CHIEF AGITATOR

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What music are you currently grooving to? Bedouine is a songwriter I’m very excited about. Her song Solitary Daughter moved me in a way that I haven’t felt in so long. I get lost in the routine of touring and lose the magic of songwritin­g: she’s helped me find my way back. Also Kendrick Lamar’s Damn. He’s a genius, he will consistent­ly change and evolve. The themes he touches on aren’t simple: DNA has meant a lot to me as I get in touch with my ancestry and the Puerto Rican struggle for liberation. What, if push comes to shove, is your favourite album of all time? Just Like A Woman by Nina Simone. I’ll never get tired of her voice, her wit and her reinventio­n of classic songs. What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? I bought three at once: Jewel, Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt, and Spice World by the Spice Girls. Girl power, I guess ha! From Tower Records! I miss that place. My family was in Florida at the mall – I was in fourth grade and beginning to feel the strange pull towards music and pop culture.

Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? Alice Coltrane. I often feel stuck on this lower spiritual plane. Close to earth, rarely elevating, musically. I wish I had Alice and John’s ability to transcend to another realm.

What do you sing in the shower? Selena, la reina para siempre.

And your Sunday morning record?

Bembeya Jazz National often blasts at my house on a Saturday. If that doesn’t get us ready for the night I’ll put on some Studio One compilatio­n.

And your Sunday morning record? Grupo Folklorico De Cuba is sacred music for a Sunday morning. That or The Velvet Undergroun­d, or maybe Willie Colón & Hector Lavoe if I’m missing NYC.

Hurray For The Riff Raff play European dates, including Green Man, in August

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