Önigirisu

Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic

Seafood& Saltwater

InstrumentalLo-fi

Behind the Music

I believe music is a universal language free from conventional barriers that can communicate feelings and stories without vocalizing a single word. The sounds Ian collected throughout his travels - the ethereal creaking of metal boats sailing, the loading of a machine gun, whales singing — help transport you to the world of The Outlaw Ocean. They make you feel like you’re in a big ship in the middle of the ocean. It may be calm, but you never know what will happen next. When combined with rhythms and beats, they help convey all that is happening on the sea that so many of us are unaware of.

Music can deliver a clear message to listeners willing to receive it. For those who are open to it, I hope my tracks will awaken their curiosity, making them ponder to themselves, “Why? How? When?” And then guiding them to find those answers in Ian’s reporting.

Önigirisu
About Önigirisu

Ogrys Gilbert Taveras, known as Önigirsu, is a Dominican music producer, musician and natural sciences teacher. Taveras mainly produces chill hip-hop beats, synthwave (under the alias Sunset.exe), and instrumental music with strong jazz, rock and blues influences. Some of his work has been featured on different compilations, playlists and collectives releases.

He started his producing journey in late 2018, after discovering lofi and synthwave mixes on YouTube, shortly after he began to upload his music to SoundCloud. His music and production style has changed noticeably since his start in 2018, making every release different from each other, utilizing various instruments and mixing diverse styles, making his sound a little abstract but at the same time unique.

Winner of the 2021 Scripps Howard Award for Excellence in Innovation in Journalism

The Journalism behind the Music

All music in this project is based on The Outlaw Ocean, a New York Times Best-Selling book by Ian Urbina that chronicles lawlessness at sea around the world. This reporting touches on a diversity of abuses ranging from illegal and overfishing, arms trafficking at sea, human slavery, gun running, intentional dumping, murder of stowaways, thievery of ships and other topics.

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