Rising: Rubby is here to have fun

Rubby Valentin – just Rubby when he’s making music – isn’t overthinking.

Over Zoom, he’s walking me through a number of ideas for future projects, talking about the blend of sounds in his work, and likening genres to different kinds of superpowers – all with a calm air that hardly hints at how much he’s juggling in his head at once. No wonder he’s able to pull from a stuffed bag of influences, documenting his desires and dreams as a queer New Yorker of Dominican descent over R&B, dembow and electronic production. His face is stoic and angelic on the call, and he sounds so breezily detached that I have to ask: is he an Aquarius? He nods. “Leo rising, though – and it shows,” he adds, with a chuckle.

You could call his music alt-pop, but it’s harder to define than that. Really, he’s all about the contradictions. He’ll blend religious symbolism with the spark of queer lust, as in the video for 2017 single Confiesa (‘confess’ in Spanish). Over light steel drums, its lyrics, written intentionally without explicit reference to any gender, are an invitation for anyone to explore desire on the dancefloor: “Sabes que ya soy tu olvido/ trátame como tu gran desafío,” which translates to, “You know I am your oblivion/ Treat me as your great challenge.” Single Know Me from the same year, meanwhile, is a more straightforward R&B seduction bolstered by a lo-fi trap beat. Though these early tracks keep those influences separate, both showcase his ear. He prides himself on making so many sonic textures work together. “I think that has been the style I’ve been trying to hone: being able to work all of these things that sound really different,” he says.

This year, he released Monster and Mindreader, two emotive reflections on lust and inner darkness clothed in indie-pop production. Following these two is as-yet-unreleased slow-burner Senseless Sexy Rage, which ends with a cheeky spoken-word break about reclaiming power in past relationships. “The practice [of songwriting] for me really is just blending everything together,” Valentin says about his new music. “Each genre adds something to the story. It gives the voice different superpowers and a different background. What is unleashed by sound, silence or different instruments is all up for grabs.”

Valentin has been unleashing his sultry club pop since 2017. Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Washington Heights, in uptown Manhattan, his early music drew from Dominican culture and playfully inverted its imagery. As he became more curious about music-making, he sought out other producers, eventually catching the ear of local hero DJ Python in 2021. Their link-up lent a charm and slinkiness to Sink Feel, a standout from Valentin’s EP Pájaro Malo. On it, his voice floats over a hypnotic beat, melding dancehall with slow-whining electronica while a drum machine kicks just enough to make you move in time with whoever caught your eye at the party.

Now dipping in and out of music, Valentin has toyed with filmmaking and modelling, recently walking his second show for Swiss brand Maison Blanche at New York Fashion Week. He’s still figuring out his next moves, beyond loosie singles. “What I hope to do as I continue to write is to have a clear artistic message,” he smiles, wrapping up. “I do think about whether other people will like [what I make], but I don’t think that’s a healthy relationship with my work: I just try to have fun.”

Sounds like: A seductive croon over dreamy dembow-infused electronica
Soundtrack for: Making out on the rooftop of a Fashion Week party
Our favourite tune: Sink Feel
File next to: Oliver Sim, serpentwithfeet
Find them: @rubbyvalentin