There is a specific kind of humidity that only exists inside an East Williamsburg venue past midnight. Recently, at the sprawling Brooklyn nightlife institution 3 Dollar Bill, that heat had a clear source. Standing center stage with the bass turned up to a near-physical threshold was La’Ci—testing out unreleased records from her upcoming debut EP, The Gringa Files, for a room that didn’t need to be asked twice to move. When the opening percussion of her latest single, “Dembow Funk,” dropped, the reaction wasn’t polite applause; it was immediate, kinetic chaos.
If the first piece we saw on La’Ci painted her as a clubland rebel, watching her work a room in real time reveals something even more interesting: a deeply calculated pop-cultural tactician. She isn’t just throwing beats at the wall to see what sticks on TikTok. Behind the handheld camera clips and the late-night warehouse energy is one of the sharpest independent rollouts happening in New York right now.
Two Records, One Clear Trajectory
To understand how La’Ci arrived at this moment, you only need to look at the one-two punch of her 2026 catalog. Back in April, she dropped “MAJOR,” an unvarnished, bass-heavy track accompanied by a gritty, iPhone-shot music video. Without the backing of a bloated major-label marketing budget, the visual quietly—and then very loudly—racked up over 310,000 views on YouTube. It proved that audiences were starving for something that looked and sounded like their actual lives, rather than a glossed-over studio fabrication.
Then came August’s “Dembow Funk.” Instead of simply remaking “MAJOR” to chase the algorithm, La’Ci pivoted into something faster, denser, and far more global. Blending the relentless bounce of Dominican dembow with the sharp percussive angles of Brazilian funk and heavy electronic low-end, the two-minute-and-forty-two-second track feels like a bridge between Latin diaspora block parties and European rave basements. It’s smart, lean, and aggressively catchy.
The Executive Blueprint: Walk On Water Music Group
Great records get lost in the digital noise every single day, which is why the most crucial piece of the La’Ci puzzle might be the company she keeps. Her rise is being architected alongside Mathew “Vine” Burke, the veteran executive and founder of Walk On Water Music Group (WOW).
In industry circles, Burke is known as a builder. Over the past decade, he has positioned WOW as a powerhouse incubator and dealmaker, navigating partnerships across heavyweights like Sony Epic Records, Universal Capitol Records, Sony Music Publishing, and Warner Chappell. But with La’Ci, Burke isn’t just acting as the guy in the suit negotiating the splits.
Recognizing early on that La’Ci’s bicultural perspective was her biggest asset, Burke stepped directly into the creative process—co-writing “Dembow Funk” alongside her. Even more telling of the level WOW is playing at: Burke brought La’Ci into the studio with five-time Grammy-winning producer Jerry Wonda (whose fingerprints are on timeless records for Shakira and The Fugees) to help shape The Gringa Files. It is a rare combination of raw, downtown New York urgency backed by old-school, hall-of-fame studio pedigree.
A Different Kind of Star Power
Scroll through La’Ci’s feeds (@laaaaaaaaci on Instagram and TikTok), and you won’t find media-trained platitudes or overly curated brand partnerships. You get the studio floor, the backstage sweat, and the unfiltered personality of an artist who knows exactly who she is talking to.
As she gears up to drop The Gringa Files via Walk On Water Music Group, that night at 3 Dollar Bill feels less like a local gig and more like a preview of coming attractions. By pairing undeniable club records like “MAJOR” and “Dembow Funk” with the seasoned executive firepower of Mathew “Vine” Burke, La’Ci isn’t waiting for the music industry to make room for her. She’s already building her own table.
Listen to “Dembow Funk” and “MAJOR” out now on all streaming platforms via Walk On Water Music Group, and follow La’Ci on Instagram and TikTok at @laaaaaaaaci.