Colombian Cumbia Conquers Latin America

Cumbia started life as rural Colombian folk music, but has since taken Latin America by storm, with electronic nights all the rage among Argentina's hipsters.

Published

3 months ago

Categories

Entertainment, World

Topics

Music, South America

Places

Colombia, Argentina, Bogota

Companies

Youtube

Transcript

SCRIPT: Cumbia is Colombian folk music - born from the mix of sounds brought there by colonists from Spain and slaves from Africa. It's played on a gaita - a sort of flute carved from the cactus plant - and drums. But cumbia's come a long way from its roots in the Colombian countryside - and is now all the rage here, thousands of miles away in Argentina. SOUNDBITE 1, Pablo Seman (man) sociologist (Spanish, 20 sec) "At the beginning of the last decade, 2001, 2002, cumbia really started to catch on here, a genre appeared that seemed very shocking for the middle classes, cumbia villera, but cumbia existed and was popular before that" [In Spanish: En la entrada de los años 2000, 2001, 2002, son los años en que la cumbia aparece como muy fuertemente para las clases medias porque aparece un genero muy disruptivo que es la cumbia villera. Pero la cumbia existía y con mucha densidad en el mundo popular desde antes.] Cumbia villera - literally, slum cumbia - was created by young people in poor areas of Argentina's cities, mixing up the Colombian music with electronic beats. "Los wachiturros", stars of the moment, make infectious dance music that hopes to overturn prejudices about inner-city young people. SOUNDBITE 2, DJ Memo (man), DJ in Los Wachiturros (Spanish, 14 sec) "They're just songs about having fun, dancing and meeting girls, having fun in a healthy way. Because, thank God, we have fun in a healthy way. We don't do drugs, we're not alcoholics, we're not violent." [In Spanish: Son temas que siempre hablan de diversión o sea de bailar, de estar con las chicas, de divertirse sanamente. Porque nosotros, gracias a Dios, descubrimos la forma de divertirnos sanamente. Sin drogarnos, sin fomentar alcolismo. Sin violencia.] Their latest hit "Tirate un paso" has been watched 18 million times on YouTube. UPSOT of video "Digital cumbia" is a more laid-back (chilled out) and musically sophisticated form - like La Yegros, a female singer influenced by folk rhythms, putting a different spin on cumbia's often macho lyrics. SOUNDBITE 3, La Yegros (woman) singer (Spanish, 14 sec) "It's often about a strong man, and the woman, I don't know, hanging around admiring him, and I like occupying that space where you, the woman, can also be strong, you can transmit all your energy, all your power from the stage" [In Spanish: También está como esta cuestion del hombre fuerte y que se yo y la mujer es la que por ahí está mirando admirando y que se yo y me encanta ocupar ese lugar donde vos tambien puedas ser la fuerte o la puedas trasmitir toda tu energía, toda tu potencía desde un escenario.] La Yegros has even started to win over fans in Europe - her single "Viene de Mi" was picked as one of the best of 2012 by music critics in France and Germany. Whether it's her more relaxed style or cumbia villera's rap-influenced beats that get people moving, it's clear that cumbia has conquered Latin America's dancefloors. SHOTLIST: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, and BOGOTA, COLOMBIA, OCTOBER 2012-FEBRUARY 2013 SEQUENCE 1 LOS GAITEROS DE SAN JACINTO playing live, BOGOTA, COLOMBIA, SOURCE: AMPLIFICADORES **NO RESALE FOR NON EDITORIAL PURPOSES** -VAR of Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto playing -CU of Gaiteros singer Juan "Chuchita" Fernandez, singing their hit "Rosita" SEQUENCE 2 BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, SOURCE: AFPTV -VAR of Pablo Seman walking down the street and into his flat SOUNDBITE 1 -CU of Pablo Seman's book 'Cumbia' SEQUENCE 3 BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, SOURCE: AFPTV -Los Wachiturros dancing in the street SOUNDBITE 2 SEQUENCE 4 LOS WACHITURROS "Tirate un paso" music video, SOURCE: AKKUA & HAMSTER PRODUCTIONS, **NO RESALE FOR NON EDITORIAL PURPOSES** -VAR of Los Wachiturros dancing and singing SEQUENCE 5 BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, SOURCE: AFPTV -VAR of La Yegros in a recording studio SOUNDBITE 3 -VAR of La Yegros performing at an outdoor concert -VAR of people dancing