Arca

Arca
General information
Birthname	Alejandra Ghersi Rodríguez
Born	October 14, 1989
Other names	Arca, Nuuro
Occupation	Musician • Singer • Composer • DJ • Record Producer • Model • Mixing Engineer
Years active	2012-present
Musical career
Genres	Electronic • Experimental • IDM • Industrial Hip-Hop • Avant-Pop • Alternative Reggaeton
Instruments	Vocals
Label(s)	XL • Mute • Hippos In Tanks • UNO NYC • Poni Republic • Nang • Sound Sister
Physical characteristics
Gender	Female
Hair color	Black
Skin color	White
Personal relationships
Parents	Henrique Ghersi Rossón (father)

Alejandra Ghersi Rodríguez (born October 14, 1989), known professionally as Arca, is a Venezuelan musician and record producer based in Barcelona, Spain. She initially began releasing music under the name of Nuuro. After attending the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Ghersi first released the EP Baron Libre (2012) under the name Arca and subsequently released the EPs Stretch 1 and Stretch 2; the latter experimented with hip hop and brought her attention from prominent music publications.

She released her first two albums, Xen and Mutant, in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Her eponymous third album, Arca (2017), became the first to prominently feature her vocals. From 2020 to 2021, Ghersi released the Kick quintet, starting with the album Kick I (2020) and ending with Kick IIIII (2021); these recordings drew from styles such as IDM, reggaeton, avant-pop, techno, and ambient. Ghersi has frequently incorporated themes related to gender identity, non-binary identification, and psychosexuality in her work, particularly after coming out in 2018.

Ghersi has also worked frequently with other artists as producer and collaborator. She received production credits on releases such as Kanye West's Yeezus (2013), FKA Twigs' EP2 (2013), LP1 (2014), and Björk's Vulnicura (2015), Utopia (2017). She has additionally contributed to music by artists such as Kelela, The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Planningtorock, Rosalía, Sia, Shygirl, and Lil Uzi Vert.

History (w/ Kanye West)

West had initially called upon Arca for samples in 2012 in preparation for his album Thank God For Drugs. Arca would share what she had described to be "the strangest music I had" with West. West had liked what he heard and invited Arca to work on his album with him throughout 2012 and 2013. The first song they are known to have worked on is "Send It Up".

Lots of Arca's production made it onto the final product of Yeezus, with five different songs across the 10-track album featuring production credits from her.

Arca had also been among the models at Kanye West's Yeezy Season 9 in 2022. Arca has also been seen around people from Ye's team in late-2024, though whether the artists had been collaborating then is unclear.

Collaborations

• Yeezus (2013)
  • New Slaves (prod. Arca)
  • Hold My Liquor (prod. Arca)
  • I'm In It (prod. Arca)
  • Blood On The Leaves (prod. Arca)
  • Send It Up (prod. Arca)