Today, just over 5 and a half years since it’s release, my mix Panflexual hit 1,000 plays on SoundCloud. It’s the first mix I was ever really proud of.
I’ve got more successful mixes. My kuduro mix, Batida Sem Parar Vol 2 will soon surpass 10,000 plays and the recording I made of my first Global Based: Noche De Cumbia set is on track to pass that one up in about half of the time.
But in a way this feels more significant. I remember the lowering of expectations I felt as a naive upstart, watching as my early efforts failed to receive the response I had hoped they would. The years since then have been a journey of learning and in some ways they have been years of resignation. I have come to understand that part of attaining success is learning to compromise. That if you want to reach a large audience, you have to play them what they want to hear. Stuff they already know, but have a hard time finding anywhere else with the same care taken in selection and presentation.
That’s why Panflexual is so special to me. I made it during a time when I wasn’t cognizant of all that. I was just in love with the idea of playing tracks together, blending them at the beginning and end, in a way that takes the listener on a trip through genres, and textures, and feelings.