Dominican experimental composer Kelman Duran selects five tracks, which inspired the score of Rodeo

Kelman Duran is a Dominican producer, composer and visual artist whose cross-discipline, cross-genre approach has built him relationships and creative roots across New York, Los Angeles, London, South Korea, Milan, South Dakota and beyond.

He’s also the only person, according to our thorough research, that can boast credits on both 2022’s most talked-about pop album (Duran worked on I’m That Girl for Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE) and 2023’s fastest-growing arthouse film. 

Rodeo, a film by Lola Quivoron scored by Kelman Duran, is a coming-of-age character study about Julia, a displaced young woman who immerses herself in the thrills and burns of an illegal dirt-biking subculture in France.

The film is naturalistic but noisy, or “a big physical vibration” as Quivoron put it during a conversation with Duran. Kelman’s musical style – one marked by club deconstructions and smart, atmospheric twists of tempo – was the perfect fit for a narrative shaped by rushes and crashes.

Duran created the score during lockdown in Berlin, searching for sounds that elevated Quivoron’s portrait of suburban angst. Here, Duran selects five records which helped bring the soundtrack to life.

Eduard Artemyev – Stalker Original Soundtrack

The legendary composer’s weightless score for Tarkovsky’s haunting 1979 thriller.

Nipsey Hussle – Victory Lap

The anthemic title track from Hussle’s only ever studio record.

Don Cherry – Om Shanti Om

Mesmerising, introspective free-jazz recorded in Rome in 1976 and released over four decades later by Black Sweat Records.

Don Cherry – Luna Turca

The opening picture of Om Shanti Om with Gian Piero Pramaggiore playing atmospheric guitar and flute.

Iannis Xenakis – Metastasis

Highly-influential composition for 61 musicians by Iannis Xenakis adopting a radically avant-garde approach rejecting structure in favour of feeling and propulsion.