Citrus City is a tape label that digs up unsung and marginalized voices from the depths of the internet. Founded in Richmond, Virginia, in 2014 and now based out of New York City, the label has released music by an expansive range of artists, including the psych-jazz outfit Crumb, the indie rockers Vundabar, and the Virginia rapper McKinley Dixon. They’ve also reissued records by the emo math-rock project Peaer and the off-kilter electronic experimentalist Body Meat.

“In the beginning, the label provided a platform for bands that we liked and helped them release their music on a physical medium,” says Citrus City co-founder Manny Lemus. Then, as he became more immersed in the Richmond music scene, he realized that the label could elevate marginalized voices. “I personally don’t know of many labels run by Latinx individuals,” he explains. “I wanted to give a platform to artists of color and queer artists of color. It can be really lonely at a show when you realize there’s no one else who looks like you.”

Lemus started Citrus City as a college student and aspiring music journalist, with a classmate who is no longer involved in the label. They decided to release music exclusively on tape because of the medium’s affordability and potential for customization. In the beginning, Lemus duplicated the tapes himself, something he still does in addition to working with distributors.

Citrus City’s diverse set of nearly 100 releases is a reflection of Lemus’ own listening habits, he says. As a child, he spent hours on Limewire downloading everyone from D’Angelo to Nirvana to reggaeton star Tego Calderón to salsa queen Celia Cruz. Lemus resists limiting the label to one genre: “Who listens to music like that?” he asks. He believes Citrus City artists are unified by their music’s upbeat sensibility and focus on self-expression. “A lot of our artists take on subject matters like race issues or biracial/queer identities in ethnic cultures,” he says. “Personal identity and music go hand-in-hand.”

Citrus City has been offered bigger distribution opportunities and label partnerships, Lemus says. But for now, he is determined to maintain the label’s independence and transparency. Unusually, Citrus City does not take any ownership of their artists’ masters or digital rights, which Lemus holds as a central tenet of his approach. “When I started the label, it never occurred to me to try to own something,” Lemus says. “At the end of the day, folks put a lot of time and effort into their music and I just want to provide a platform for them.”

Here are eight tracks that capture Citrus City’s ever-evolving output.

The Debut: Jade TV’s “Wild Days” (2015)

Citrus City’s early motto was “a label by friends for friends,” and their first release embodies that easygoing ethos. Citrus City Vol. 1 is a compilation of songs made by artists Lemus befriended online, often in dream pop Facebook groups. The record’s 17 tracks range from French surf rock to Swedish new wave. The song that he feels best epitomizes the label’s founding is “Wild Days,” an ethereal guitar track by Jade TV, the project of former Hoops member James Allen. “I wanted to do the label because a lot of music would never see the light of day beyond the internet,” Lemus explains.

The Hometown Pride Pick: Lance Bangs’ “Let It Grow” (2016)

Lance Mountain, a 10-minute blast of lo-fi slacker scruff with lyrics about aching hearts, chipped teeth, and football, is the debut EP by Richmond trio Lance Bangs, whose leader Collin Thibodeau was one of Citrus City’s earliest signees. The co-release with Los Angeles’ Danger Collective Records was one of the first Virginia bands released by the label and also the first time that Lemus took a more hands-on approach in promotion. “I started to take the label a bit more seriously with this record,” he says.

The Breakthrough: Crumb’s “Recently Played” (2017)

Lemus stumbled upon the jazzy, psych-rock quartet Crumb’s self-released first EP on Bandcamp in 2017. Entranced, he reached out to the band to ask if they had any merch; they didn’t, so he offered to make them some tapes. (“They must have been waiting for the catch,” Lemus jokes. “Like, there’s no way this dude just wants to give us free tapes and promote our music.”) Soon, Lemus was also booking their tours and releasing their second EP, Locket. He continued to reissue their tapes as Crumb’s fan base grew. “Previous releases had sold out, but Crumb was the first time that I had to keep up with a demand,” he explains. “A hundred tapes would just be gone like that.”

The Communal Effort: Alfred. & Pockets’ “PLS” (2017)

So Sensitive is a hazy, sensual collaboration between two Richmond rising stars, the producer Pockets and the rapper Alfred. Merging woozy beats with introspective rhymes, it’s a laid-back listen with lyrics and skits that touch poetically on romance and big dreams. “So Sensitive highlights the big hip-hop scene in Richmond as well as the communal aspect that I like to foster with the label,” Lemus says. Citrus City often packages its tapes with elaborate inserts, and Lemus is particularly proud of the art for So Sensitive, which Alfred. designed himself. “For this one, we emphasized colorful imagery, since we wanted it to pop and grab the attention of predominantly indie listeners,” Lemus says.

The Heartfelt Pick: Combo Chimbita’s “Pachanga” (2018)

Citrus City will often work with labels to reissue music that was either initially self-released or never produced on cassette. In 2018, the New York-via-Colombia shapeshifters Combo Chimbita reached out about Citrus City reissuing the band’s 2017 record Abya Yala (originally released on Figure and Ground Records); the band was excited to work with a small Latinx-owned label. Jumping from psychedelia to cumbia to rock to metal, Abya Yala is particularly close to Lemus’ heart because it reminds him of the music that his Guatemalan family played at celebrations when he was growing up. Its standout track, “Pachanga” (“Party”), is full of shredding guitar riffs, rapidly undulating synths, and a frantically shaken güiro. It’s bound to make you move.

The Sonic Jetsetter: Sky Mata’s “Temple Sky Salt” (2018)

Another artist that Lemus discovered on Bandcamp is Sky Mata, the project of the Japanese/Canadian bedroom artist Mashu Haya. The two connected over Twitter and agreed to reissue Haya’s third album, 2017’s Dye Xanh, in partnership with the Canadian label Like Spinning Tapes. The blissfully chilled-out Dye Xanh uses funky bass lines and indie-pop melodies to capture Haya’s memories of trips to Nepal and Sri Lanka. To Lemus, Citrus City co-releasing a record like Dye Xanh is a reminder that releasing music can be a way to connect with strangers. “It’s cool that because I found this Japanese release, it connected me to a really friendly person in Montreal, and their tape label and the three of us made this together.”

The Next Gen: Shormey’s “Boogie Island” (2019)

While people might think of Virginia R&B and hip-hop in terms of its big-name exports like D’Angelo, Missy Elliott, and Pharrell, Lemus points to artists like Shormey as a reminder of the state’s next wave of artists. The Chesapeake musician makes soothing R&B that channels the groovy bounce of disco and the easygoing warmth of soul. The title of her latest EP, Boogie Tape Vol 1., could not be more apt.

The Genre Collapser: Pedazo de Carne Con Ojo’s “Mind Racing” (2020)

Lemus was first introduced to the Philadelphia musician Pedazo de Carne Con Ojo (aka Steven Perez) through another Citrus City artist, Christopher Taylor of Body Meat. Perez’s latest project, ¿Pero Like Cómo E'tá?, is an entrancing blend of hip-hop, pop, salsa, bachata, and merengue. “Steven is first-generation and so am I. Something that I talk about with other first-generation Latinx people is that the mold of our identity is still so fresh,” says Lemus. “I think this album is a good example of showing someone mixing up their culture with Western music without pandering.”