Thievery Corporation

Formed in Washington, D.C. in the mid-1990s by Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, Thievery Corporation is rooted in the downtempo electronic scene, blending trip-hop, dub, bossa nova, reggae, and jazz and Middle Eastern influences. The duo emerged around the Eighteenth Street Lounge club and their ESL Music label, gradually shaping a lounge-adjacent sound world marked by political overtones and a steady interest in so-called global music. Their debut album, Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi (1997), established Thievery Corporation’s sonic signature, further developed on The Mirror Conspiracy (2000) and The Richest Man in Babylon (2002), where guest vocals and orchestral textures take on a larger role. With The Cosmic Game (2005) and then Radio Retaliation (2008), Thievery Corporation deepened its references to dub and to sounds from Latin America, India, and the Middle East, while addressing geopolitical issues more directly in the lyrics. Culture of Fear (2011) and Saudade (2014) return to cinematic atmospheres, between slow orchestrations and melancholic bossa, before The Temple of I & I (2017) and Treasures from the Temple (2018) assert a stronger connection to Jamaican culture. In the studio, Thievery Corporation operates as a producer duo, whereas on stage the project expands into a collective with singers and instrumentalists, moving between clubs, festivals, and international concert halls.