Get to know Aristophanes

There are countless artists out there on SoundCloud, just waiting for someone to stumble on their latest mix or productions. So if one of the world’s most respected pop auteurs happens upon your page, you’ve got to thank your lucky stars. That’s exactly what happened to 26-year-old Taiwanese rapper Aristophanes. She was discovered by Grimes who, after hearing her mix of heavy electronics and furious rhymes, got Aristophanes to feature on 2015 album ‘Art Angels’. Since then she’s toured with Grimes and Sigur Rós and worked with Arcade Fire’s Will Butler on her debut album. Speaking from a cafe in her home town of Tapei, Aristophanes (real name Pan Wei Ju) seems dazed by the journey she’s been on. She tells us about her local hip hop scene (“they don’t think I’m part of what they do”) and how she’s instead found a circle of unlikely collaborators from festival-headlining rock stars like Butler to experimental producers like Jam City and Sonic Deadhorse. “It was exciting to work with Will, I learned a lot” she says.