Enter the Infierno: the new festival celebrating Spain’s rap underground

In the historic coastal city of Salobreña, Granada, a new kind of history was written last weekend (June 28-29). It was one authored by Spain’s homegrown trap artists, and the 15,000-plus fans they represent. With a snapback-wearing, chibi devil-like mascot, and DIY music typical of the rap underground, the festival’s name is Infierno. 

At the centre of it all is Granadan-born artist Yung Beef, whose viral hit “Beef Boy” single-handedly turned the Spanish rap scene on its head back in 2016. A DIY blend of hardcore American trap and seductive Latin melodies, Beef’s vision is stapled all across Infierno, from its unfiltered aesthetics to appearing on the line-up twice – once as a solo act and once as one-third of cult favourites La Mafia Del Amor. “[Infierno is] very underground and very multicultural,” Beef tells Dazed, “I don't think it fits into any particular style but just people who love the street, no matter where they come from”. 

Beef founded grassroots record label La Vendicion back in 2015, a self-described “non-profit criminal organisation” under which Infierno Festival is now hosted. From conducting label meetings on street corners to appearing on mainstream Spanish TV, the scene has come a long way, but Beef is resolute in staying true to the independent values on which the movement was founded. “The biggest change hasn't depended so much on us, but rather it's a scene that has grown a lot in Spain, and now it’s becoming possible to create events for so many people with more underground artists,” Beef explains. 

Featuring compatriots of Yung Beef’s rap revolution – from the smooth-toned Cruz Cafune to the bouncy, reggaeton-leaning Bb trickz and hip hop purist producer Cookin’ Soul – Infierno Festival is a powerful testament to the heights that independent music can reach in the digital age. Check out the action in the gallery above.