On her new track “OUCH,” DC songwriter Roba Djalleta (a.k.a. Berra) bucks her East Coast indie sound. It’s the second single from her upcoming EP Bull Rider, and it arrives just a year after the guitar-driven Lover’s Virginia EP—and an appearance at the inaugural Liberation Weekend festival—established her as an exciting up-and-comer in the nation’s capital. Djalleta wrote and demoed “OUCH” with bandmate Tyler Mastromatteo (also of DC band Home Remedies), but finished it in a masterclass with producer and engineer Andros Rodriguez, whose credits include Shakira’s She Wolf, and who happens to be an adjunct instructor at American University, where Djalleta studies business and entertainment. She credits Rodriguez for coming up with the big, bright piano part that transformed “OUCH!” into an unabashed pop song.
Djalleta originally titled the EP Bull Rider to reflect that bolder, less-local sound. The name took on new meaning after a friend studying law at Loyola University New Orleans told her about the Angola Prison Rodeo, in which mostly Black incarcerated men compete in dangerous horse and bull events for entertainment. “I was like, ‘How did I not even know this existed, and it’s in my country?’” says Djalleta. “It’s an obligation I have as an artist to uplift these things, and for me, Bull Rider is so symbolic. Being a Black American, although I have so many privileges—I’m not controlling the bull, but I’m riding it.”
Check out “OUCH!” below, and look for Bull Rider September 4.
