Clementaum: High Heels, Hand Fans, and Heavy Brazilian Beats

Purse on her shoulder, hand fan in her hand, high heels on, she controls the dance floor. Always fidgeting with the lighting and waving her fan in sync with the beat drops, she combines tribal house and baile funk, mixed with a little bit of techno and whatever else comes to mind. That's the vision of Brazilian DJ and producer Clementaum, who has made a name for herself throughout Brazil in the last few years with her performative DJ sets and energetic tracks. Now, she plans to take over the world. 

Originally from the state of Paraná, in the southern region of Brazil, but intrinsically tied to the São Paulo underground electronic music scene where she has lived since 2022, Clementaum has started taking her sounds to far bigger distances lately.

Just this past year, she performed on the Boiler Room stage at Primavera Sound Barcelona and at Sónar in Lisbon. She also toured Europe this past April and is expecting to announce more dates abroad in July. Also these past few months, she has worked with international talent like Argentine rapper Ms. Nina, and recently announced a single with Nathy Peluso.

"It's amazing to be able to take my culture with me, to play my own tracks internationally", says Clementaum (real name Gabriela Clemente), during a video interview in late May. "I insisted a lot to get to where I am now."

Clementaum, who used to work as a hostess in clubs, started DJing in 2017 and quickly became a familiar face around Curitiba, Paraná's capital. Since she wanted to support herself as a DJ, she used to play in all kinds of clubs and parties. "I loved to play moombahton, baile funk or vogue beat remixes of pop songs", she says. "But I've also played R&B, I've played reggaeton… And then, when I had the opportunity to play at a party that was more focused on club music, that's when I started playing what made more sense to me."

Clementaum is attracted to percussive rhythms, especially those tied to Latin American and African dance music. Her tribal house and baile funk sets are often sprinkled with guaracha, kuduro, and jersey club. "I like listening to the sounds of the drums, the hi-hats. I do a crazy mix of things", she says. "It's impressive how many genres we have to work with just in Brazil and Latin America. We're so creative. It's inspiring."

This inspiration also makes its way into her own tracks. Clementaum started making music around 2018, back when her old laptop could barely run music production software. The hobby became a passion during the pandemic, and she has been releasing tracks with pop and baile funk artists ever since. Her first full track was "Pirigótika", a sort of rock-infused-hyperpop she made for singer Bibi Babydoll in 2021.

Since then, she has worked with pop artists like Karol Conká and Mia Badgyal, along with producers like Carlos do Complexo and LAZA. She has also become deeply involved with São Paulo's underground electronic music scene since moving there three years ago, collaborating with acts such as DJ Caio Prince, Irmãs de Pau and Teto Preto, and DJing at big underground parties like Mamba Negra and Chernobyl. 

"In Curitiba, I felt like I had already done everything within reach. I did my own parties out there, but I lost a lot of money in that process. In fact, with the money I lost throwing parties in Curitiba, I could've gotten a boob job by now", she laughs. "I feel like São Paulo is more open to new sounds. We're not mainstream; we can be bold."

Clementaum says the contact with São Paulo's underground scene has also informed her energetic onstage performances. "In the pandemic, I started to record a lot of my sets and I was surprised to see how serious I was when I was playing. I was too afraid to screw up the set. And it's important for a DJ to know the technique, but when the DJ performs, this animates and excites you. Sometimes the set isn't even that good, but you end up liking it because of the DJ's vibe", says Clementaum.

So she started making her sets as fun as her sound, playing with the lights, waving her hand fan and dancing around to her own beats. The little purse and high heels also became a trademark – almost by accident. "I was robbed in São Paulo once while I was playing and then decided I was never going to leave my bag unattended again! So I always carry it with me," she says. 

The performances quickly gathered her lots of new fans and became iconic – or "iquinic", as she would say. Clementaum has a knack for inventing words and expressions she uses as catchphrases in her socials. She's also known for saying "AVISA!" ("let them know!") and adapt the names of the cities where she's going to play next into curse words. "I've always been a walking meme", she laughs. "Plus, a lot of fun stuff always happens at my sets; when I played at Mamba Negra, there was someone there with a reborn doll. These moments go viral and people recognize me for them."

With some new collabs about to be released and a few Europe dates lined up, Clementaum affirms her commitment to the underground. "I'm not a DJ of genre X or Y. I'm a DJ of the underground electronic scene, of latin electronic music", she adds. "I want people to listen to my tracks and think: this is Clementaum's sound."