One gig alone taught ILLUMINARI to make their own sound

The first time ILLUMINARI had to play a gig alone, without their musicians or their producer, they learned something they had not expected. They liked it. The gig, says vocalist Celestine Angel, “made us realise just how much we love controlling every element ourselves.”

ILLUMINARI are a mystic hip hop crew: Celestine, the rapper Isaac, and Celestine’s brother Carrick, who handles their film and photography. Celestine and Isaac met in Singapore’s underground hip hop clubs and later moved to Mexico City, where the crew is now based. They have released two albums and played live across Mexico.

01 — The gigNo band, no producer

For years, ILLUMINARI’s sound passed through other hands. Their debut album, ILLUMINARI At The Threshold, was mastered in New York by Emily Lazar. Their second, Acclimatize, was produced by Ricardo Lavalle.

Working that way had a cost. “For a long time we felt really held back by needing to find the right people to work with,” Celestine says, “and also felt forced to follow this timing.”

Then came the gig with nobody else on stage. It sent them to a door they had been sure was closed to them without an education in music: learning enough production to put out a proper song by themselves. In 2024 they did. I AM THE MONEY was their debut as producers.

“All we’ve ever wanted was to create our sound.”

“Our special language of music can finally be expressed,” she says, “and it is so fulfilling.”

02 — The roomThe cleanest possible connection

ILLUMINARI have played to very different rooms. Celestine sang in Singapore’s hotel lounges and at Marina Bay Sands. In Mexico the crew has played the Retrofuture Trip Hop Festival, the Komun Art Festival and the Chinese Cultural Centre in Mexico City, where in 2024 they performed their remix of Tian Mi Mi, a Mandarin classic.

What those rooms taught her was to stop guessing. She has learnt, she says, “how important it is not to judge who any one person might be and what they might understand.”

So she no longer shapes a set around what she thinks a crowd wants. “I don’t cater my style to what I assume the crowd needs anymore,” she says, “but simply chase the cleanest possible connection between myself and the room.”

That openness has to start with the performer. In her words, it “begins with me.”

03 — NextTwenty-two songs, twenty-two cards

Their next release is a mixtape of 22 songs, each one mapped to a card in the story of the tarot, whose major cards are numbered from 0 to 21. The crew has worked this way before. Their debut album had twelve tracks, with titles that name signs of the zodiac: Gemini, Leo, Sagittarius.

Each new song marks a breakthrough they have lived through. Song iii is Flexed. “If a butterfly does not flex its wings it remains a caterpillar,” Celestine says, “and so the natural thing to do is to live to my best.”

Song 0 is Honr, “the track that starts everything”, a song about radically honouring your flaws. It will be the first single. The rest will follow in a waterfall release, where the songs come out one at a time and the album builds as they land.

04 — In her wordsThree questions

What have you learnt from performing to audiences in different parts of the world?

What I’ve really learnt performing to audiences in different parts of the world is how important it is not to judge who any one person might be and what they might understand. The potential of transformation within a moment in art comes from an openness that allows new forms of thought and that begins with me. So I don’t cater my style to what I assume the crowd needs anymore but simply chase the cleanest possible connection between myself and the room. It will only ever be this highest connection that transports all of us to somewhere else.

Which gig changed the way you work, and what did it lead to?

The first gig we had to perform alone, without our musicians/producer, made us realise just how much we love controlling every element ourselves. It was the single moment that led to a door we’ve never opened before, convinced that without education it was impossible - learning enough production to put out a proper song all by ourselves. This growth gave us a huge sense of completion in our journey to integrate what being an artist means for us both inside and out. Our idea of independence is deeply personal as for a long time we felt really held back by needing to find the right people to work with and also felt forced to follow this timing but now we see all we’ve ever wanted was to create our sound - the soundscape that we can only hear - so this was our path to get here anyway. Our special language of music can finally be expressed and it is so fulfilling.

What are you working on next?

We are creating a 22 songs / cards mixtape, mapping each track to the story of the tarot. It is to remind us of each important breakthrough that we’ve experienced as we’ve seen just how magical our songs have been for us as vibrational shifts. For example, song iii is Flexed which reminds me that if a butterfly does not flex its wings it remains a caterpillar and so the natural thing to do is to live to my best, and stop getting in my head about vanity, humility and hubris. It could be as powerful for you as it’s been for us working on this topic. And song 0 is Honr, the track that starts everything - this song about radically honouring your flaws. It will be the first single out in a waterfall album release format. Catch it soon!

ILLUMINARI are on GigDay as a mystic hip hop crew, based in Mexico City. It took one gig with nobody else on stage to show them what they had wanted all along. They wanted to make the sound themselves.