LITÓ PERCUSSION

Before I could explain who I was, rhythm was already part of me. I’m Eli “LITÓ” Mateo, a percussionist, producer and composer born in Puerto Rico and brought up in Worcester, Massachusetts. I learned percussion on my own in church. It was my first stage, where I discovered rhythm could say what words couldn’t. My music reflects the sounds that formed me: Latin rhythms, gospel, hip-hop, funk, soul and Worcester’s street culture. I began touring as a teenager and have performed for years with artists and bands across New England. Wherever music has taken me, it has always brought me back home. 1984 takes the story back: cassette tapes turning, radio static, home videos, graffiti, b-boys dancing, and a child making music from the world around him. Each song reveals another scene from my life, shared through percussion, live music and imagination. The memories that brought me up. The rhythm that made me.