Maruja discuss 5 of their favorite rap albums

Rising UK art-jazz-punks Maruja recently wrapped up their great EP trilogy and now they’re set to release their anticipated debut full-length album Pain to Power this Friday (9/12) via Music For Nations. We’ll have more to say about it soon (spoiler: it’s very good), but meanwhile, bassist Matt Buonaccorsi and drummer Jacob Hayes have taken the time to tell us about 5 of their favorite rap albums.

No one would call Maruja’s own music “rap” but it’s not hard to tell that hip hop is one of the many influences on the musical melting pot they’ve been stirring. Matt refers to it as “modern day poetry” and Jacob says, “We’re always trying to expand our abilities and we’ve been keen fans of hip hop and rap for a long time, and we have such features of such in the album, so we thought [making this list] was a cool thing to do.”

Their list ranges from ’90s classics to more recent greats, and as you’ll find out during our conversation, they’ve got a real affinity for classic New York rap. Reflecting on the first time they came to New York on tour, Matt said, “As we were driving in, we were just popping on all these New York hip hop classics in the van. It just felt like, it all connects. I could see exactly where all this is birthed from. ‘Cause it’s such a thriving, mental, exciting urban environment. It was all grey, but that’s actually what I think is beautiful about it. I think it’s a gorgeous place and it was very important for us to be playing that place finally.”

Check out the video of Matt and Jacob discussing their picks below, along with an extended 17-minute cut with even more commentary.

Pain to Power drops on 9/12 and you can pre-order it here. They’re also about to begin a tour, which brings them back to NYC on September 25 at Elsewhere Hall with support from Cold Court. All dates are listed below, alongside streams/videos of the album’s four pre-release singles.

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Maruja — 2025 Tour Dates
September 12th – Signature Brew Blackhorse Road with Rough Trade, LONDON
September 14th – Key Club with Crash Records, LEEDS
September 15th – Academy 3 with Crash Records, MANCHESTER
September 17th – Rough Trade, NOTTINGHAM
September 22nd – The Sinclair, BOSTON, MA
September 23rd – Underground Arts, PHILADELPHIA, PA
September 25th – Elsewhere, BROOKLYN, NY
September 27th – The Phoenix Concert Theatre, TORONTO, ON
September 28th – El Club, DETROIT, MI
September 30th – Thalia Hall, CHICAGO, IL
October 2nd – El Rey Theatre, LOS ANGELES, CA
October 4th – Constellation Room, SANTA ANA, CA
October 5th – The New Parish, OAKLAND, CA
October 25th – Electric Bristol, BRISTOL
October 29th – The Garage, GLASGOW
October 31st – Whelan’s, DUBLIN
November 1st – The Limelight 2, BELFAST
November 5th – The Castle & Falcon, BIRMINGHAM
November 7th – The Wardrobe, LEEDS
November 8th – Rescue Rooms, NOTTINGHAM
November 12th – CHALK, BRIGHTON
November 13th – Electric Ballroom, LONDON
November 14th – O2 Ritz, MANCHESTER
November 19th – Botanique Orangerie, BRUSSELS
November 20th – LUXOR, COLOGNE
November 21st – Paradiso Tolhuistuin, AMSTERDAM
November 22nd – Bahnhof Pauli, HAMBURG
November 26th – Hole44, BERLIN
November 28th – Bogen F, ZURICH
November 29th – Santeria Toscana 31, MILAN
December 3rd – M.OU.CO., Porto
December 4th – LAV, Lisbon
December 5th – Copernico, MADRID
December 6th – Sala Apolo, BARCELONA
December 10th – Pannonica, NANTES
December 11th – Le Tetris, LE HAVRE
December 12th – Trabendo, PARIS