Music of Colombia
Encyclopedia
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
s, traditional and moderns according with the features of each geographic region
Natural regions of Colombia
Because of its natural structure, Colombia can be divided into six very distinct natural regions. These consist of the Andean region, covering the three branches of the Andes mountains found in Colombia; the Caribbean region, covering the area adjacent to the Caribbean sea; the Pacific region...
; although it is frequent to find different musical styles in the same region. The diversity in musical expressions found in Colombia can be seen as the result of a mixture of African, native Indigenous, European (especially Spanish) influences, as well as more modern American
Music of the United States
The music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. Among the country's most internationally-renowned genres are hip hop, blues, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, barbershop, pop, techno, and rock and roll. The United States has the...
and Caribbean music
Caribbean music
The music of the Caribbean is a diverse grouping of musical genres. They are each syntheses of African, European, Indian and native influences, largely created by descendants of African slaves...
al forms, Cuban
Music of Cuba
The Caribbean island of Cuba has developed a wide range of creolized musical styles, based on its cultural origins in Europe and Africa. Since the 19th century its music has been hugely popular and influential throughout the world...
, and Jamaican
Music of Jamaica
The music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many popular genres, such as mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub music, dancehall, reggae fusion and related styles. Jamaica's music culture is a fusion of elements from the United States , Africa, and neighboring Caribbean islands such as...
.
In a globalised world, many musicians are fusing traditional music with other styles (usually styles from the popular music genres). While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it is no longer traditional music since it is not entirely based on local culture, being influenced by the music that it has been fused with. As a result traditional music tends to be found in a pre-commercial setting. While traditional music continues to evolve today, but generally as a continuation of the music from a pre-globalised culture.
Styles like vallenato
Vallenato
Vallenato, along with cumbia, is currently a popular folk music of Colombia. It primarily comes from the Colombia's Caribbean region. Vallenato literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing this name is located between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía de Perijá in...
and porro
Porro
The porro is a musical style and dance from the Caribbean region of Colombia. It is a Colombian Cumbia rhythm that developed into its own sub-genre. It was originally a folkloric expression from the Sinú River area that evolved into a ballroom dance...
were especially influential. When the waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
became popular in the 19th century, a Colombian version called pasillo
Pasillo
Pasillo is a South American genre of music extremely popular in the territories that composed 19th century Gran Colombia: Colombia; Ecuador, where it is considered the national musical style; and to a lesser extent in the mountainous regions of Venezuela and Panamá...
was created.
Caribbean Region of Colombia
Some of the best known genres are cumbiaCumbia
Cumbia is a music genre popular across Latin America. The cumbia originated in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where it is associated with an eponymous dance and has since spread as far as Mexico and Argentina...
and vallenato
Vallenato
Vallenato, along with cumbia, is currently a popular folk music of Colombia. It primarily comes from the Colombia's Caribbean region. Vallenato literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing this name is located between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía de Perijá in...
. The most recognized interpreters of traditional caribbean and afrocolombian music are Totó la Momposina
Totó la Momposina
Sonia Bazanta Vides, better known as Totó la Momposina, is a Colombian singer of traditional mixed indigenous Colombian and Afro-Latin music. She was born in the northern Colombian town of Talaigua Nuevo near Mompox in the Bolívar Department...
and Francisco Zumaqué
Francisco Zumaque
Francisco Zumaqué Gómez is a Colombian musician and composer of rich Colombo-Caribbean rhythms. Defined as a contemporary musician with great part of his compositions oriented to Electroacoustic music, doing important research that contributed in the creation of new rhythms mixing traditional...
.
Cumbia
Indigenous peoples in Colombia
The indigenous peoples in Colombia comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country's present territory prior to its discovery by Europeans around 1500.-Origins:...
and African music. The style of dance is designed to recall the shackles worn around the ankles of the slaves. In the 19th century, slavery was abolished and Africans, Indians and other ethnic groups got a more complete integration in the Colombian culture.
Cumbia is a complex, rhythmic music which arose on Colombia's Atlantic coast. In its original form, cumbia bands included only percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
and vocals; modern groups include saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
and trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s as well. It evolved out of native influences, combining both traditions. Some observers have claimed that the dance originally associated with iron chains around the ankle. Still others believe it is a direct import from Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
, which has a popular cumbe
Cumbe
Cumbe is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Sergipe. Its population was 3,847 and its area is 129 km²....
dance form.
Cumbia's form was solidified in the 1940s when it spread from the rural countryside to urban and middle-class audiences. Mambo, big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
and porro
Porro
The porro is a musical style and dance from the Caribbean region of Colombia. It is a Colombian Cumbia rhythm that developed into its own sub-genre. It was originally a folkloric expression from the Sinú River area that evolved into a ballroom dance...
brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
influences were combined by artists like Lucho Bermúdez
Lucho Bermúdez
Luis Eduardo Bermúdez , was a Colombian musician, composer, and interpreter of Boleros, Cumbias, Porros and other Colombian folkloric rhythms stylized by orchestras.- Early years :...
to form a refined form of cumbia that soon entered the Golden Age of Cumbia during the 1950s. Discos Fuentes
Discos Fuentes
Discos Fuentes is a record label based in Colombia. It was founded in 1934 in Cartagena, Colombia by Antonio Fuentes Estrada, and was the first Colombian record label. The label was instrumental in introducing African-based genres such as cumbia, fandango, and porro to Colombia...
, the largest and most influential record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
in the country, was founded during this time. Fruko, known as the Godfather of Salsa, introduced Cuban salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
to Colombia and helped bring Discos Fuentes to national prominence by finding artists like La Sonora Dinamita
La Sonora Dinamita
La Sonora Dinamita is a Colombian salsa group. As one of the first cumbia groups to reach international success, it is credited with helping to popularize the genre throughout Latin America, and the world....
, who brought cumbia to Mexico, where it remains popular.
It is worth pointing out that the "classic" cumbia known throughout Colombia is the Cumbia Cienaguera. This song reflects a uniquely Colombian feel known as "sabor" (flavour) and "ambiente" (atmosphere). Arguably, this song has remained a Colombian staple through the years and is widely known as Colombia's unofficial national anthem. Some artists are Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto
Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto
Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto are a Colombian traditional folkloric cumbia group formed in the Caribbean Region of Colombia which have been active since 1940...
, Los Graduados, Los Black Stars
Los Black Stars
Los Black Stars is a Colombian cumbia band.Los Black Stars are originated from the department of Antioquia.Their best hits are La Piragua violencia by Jose Barros. Their songs are featured on the compilation Las Cien Canciones Mas Bellas De Colombia....
, Los Golden Boys, Los Teen Agers, and Los Corraleros De Majagual.
Colombian Salsa
Salsa musicSalsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
was born among Puerto Ricans and Cubans, but soon spread to Colombia. Native salsa groups like Fruko y sus Tesos
Fruko y sus Tesos
Fruko y sus Tesos is a salsa group from Colombia which enjoys immense popularity throughout the Latin American world. It was formed in 1970 by Julio Ernesto Estrada, artistically known as "Fruko" who modeled it after the New York salsa sound of the Fania All-Stars, one of the leading salsa groups...
and labels that recorded them like Discos Fuentes emerged. Artists like Joe Arroyo
Joe Arroyo
Álvaro José Arroyo González was a Colombian salsa and tropical music singer, composer and songwriter. Considered one of the greatest performers of Caribbean music in his country....
followed, inventing a distinctively Colombian form of salsa. Other influential Colombian salsa bands include Cristian Del Real "The Timbal Genius", Grupo Niche
Grupo Niche
Grupo Niche is a salsa group founded in 1978 in Bogotá, Colombia. Currently based in Cali, Colombia, it enjoys great popularity throughout Latin America. It was founded by Jairo Varela and Alexis Lozano. Jairo Varela has stayed with the group becoming producer, director, songwriter, vocalist and...
, Alquimia, La Misma Gente, Los Titanes, Los Nemus del Pacífico, Orquesta Guayacán and Grupo Galé. Some of the most prolific composers in the genre are Jairo Varela and Nino Caicedo whose compositions have been recorded by Grupo Niche
Grupo Niche
Grupo Niche is a salsa group founded in 1978 in Bogotá, Colombia. Currently based in Cali, Colombia, it enjoys great popularity throughout Latin America. It was founded by Jairo Varela and Alexis Lozano. Jairo Varela has stayed with the group becoming producer, director, songwriter, vocalist and...
and Orquesta Guayacán respectively. Several Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians who have established in Colombia, such as Diego Valdés and Israel Tanenbaum
Israel Tanenbaum
Israel Tanenbaum-Rivera is a Puerto Rican pianist, record producer, composer, arranger and audio engineer who has produced more than 50 albums and participated in over 100 recordings.-Salsa:...
, have collaborated with Colombians in salsa projects. Recently Colombian dancers have become World Champions year after year and the style is becoming more popular and admired among Salsa professionals worldwide; with two of the most prominent salsa schools being Swing Latino driven by the dance choreographer Eduardo 'El Mulato' Hernandez, and Constelación Latina driven by one of the world's most beloved dancers Jhoanna 'KKO' Agudelo.
In terms of Colombian Salsa as a dance it is very unique and different from New York/Puerto Rico and Cuban salsa. Colombian Salsa concentrates on footwork and does not incorporate cross-body leads. Dancers leave the upper part of the body still and relaxed while the feet do extremely fast and complex movements.
Champeta and African-diasporic music
Some Colombian communities, such as Chocó, CartagenaCartagena, Colombia
Cartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...
and Providencia Island
Providencia Island
Isla de Providencia or Old Providence is a mountainous Caribbean island. Though it is closer to Nicaragua, it is part of the Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina, a department of Colombia, lying midway between Costa Rica and Jamaica...
, have large African-descendant communities. Unlike most of the country, cultural mixing with native and European influences have been rare, and, especially in El Chocó, music has changed little since being imported from West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
. Providencia Island is also home to a type of folk music which is closely related to mento
Mento
Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It has its roots in calypso and other Jamaican folk music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the...
, a Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n folk form. Most influentially, however, is the city of Cartagena and its champeta
Champeta
Champeta is the cultural phenomenon and musical genre of independent and local origin from the African descendents inthe areas in and around Cartagena de Indias,...
music which has been influenced by soukous
Soukous
Soukous is a dance music genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa...
, compas
Compas
Compas may refer to:* Compas music, a Haitian musical genre* Compás, a flamenco time signature* COMPAS, a Canadian polling company* Rob Compas , Dutch cyclist...
, zouk
Zouk
Zouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe & Martinique. Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish dance, the...
, and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
. Champeta musicians have included Luis Towers, El Afinaíto, El Sayayín, El Pupy and Boogaloo
Boogaloo
Boogaloo or bugalú is a genre of Latin music and dance that was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City among teenage Cubans, Puerto Ricans and other groups. The style was a fusion of popular African American R&B and soul with mambo and son montuno...
, while others, like Elio Boom, have incorporated Jamaican raggamuffin music to champeta.
Another noteworthy band is BIP
BIP (band)
BIP is a trio of Colombian musicians.Formed in 1999 by the Cartagenero rapper Dexter Hamilton, who has also worked as choreographer for more than 11 years, it originally consisted of four members, which released the album Bomba camará .After a long break, and under a new record label...
, who originally did champeta music and currently are doing reggaeton
Reggaeton
Reggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
, without leaving behind their champeta roots.
Porro
PorroPorro
The porro is a musical style and dance from the Caribbean region of Colombia. It is a Colombian Cumbia rhythm that developed into its own sub-genre. It was originally a folkloric expression from the Sinú River area that evolved into a ballroom dance...
bands are an enthusiastic form of big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
music that came from Sucre
Sucre Department
Sucre is a department in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. The department ranks 27th by area, and it has a population of 772,010, ranking 20th of all the 32 departments of Colombia...
, Córdoba
Córdoba Department
Córdoba is a Department of the Republic of Colombia located to the north of this country in the Colombian Caribbean Region. Córdoba faces to the north with the Caribbean sea, to the northeast with the Sucre Department, east with the Bolívar Department and south with the Antioquia Department...
and Sabana de Bolívar. The brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
ensembles are modeled after European military bands. Influential porros include La Orquestra Lucho Bermudez, Matilde Diaz, Pacho Galan
Pacho Galan
Pacho Galan was a Colombian composer and band leader of several Colombian music forms, including porro, cumbia, gaita and merercumbe...
, Banda de 11 Enero, La Sonora Cordobesa, La Sonora Cienaguera, Orquesta Climaco Sarmiento and Pedro Laza y sus Pelayeros.
Vallenato
Vallenato
Vallenato, along with cumbia, is currently a popular folk music of Colombia. It primarily comes from the Colombia's Caribbean region. Vallenato literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing this name is located between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía de Perijá in...
arose in Valledupar
Valledupar
Valledupar is a city and municipality in northeastern Colombia. It is the capital of Cesar Department and was founded in 1550 by the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Santana. Its name, Valle de Upar , was established in honor of the Amerindian cacique who ruled the valley; Cacique Upar...
on Colombia's Atlantic Coast and only gained popularity elsewhere in the country in the 1980s. Its origins are shrouded in mystery but are said to have begun with Francisco el Hombre
Francisco el Hombre
Francisco el Hombre is a legendary figure, said to have originated the musical genre of Vallenato in Colombia. His story is very unclear and has been told by word of mouth from generation to generation.-The Story:...
, who allegedly defeated Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
in a musical contest. Based around the accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
,the guacharaca
Guacharaca
Guacharaca is a musical percussion instrument usually made out of the cane-like trunk of a small palm tree. The guacharaca itself consists of a tube with ridges carved into its outer surface with part of its interior hollowed out, giving it the appearance of a tiny, notched canoe. It is played...
, and the caja vallenata(a larger version the bongo), vallenato has long been connected with cumbia. Influential artists include Alejo Duran
Alejo Duran
Gilberto Alejandro Durán Diaz, known to all as Alejo Durán or "El Negro Grande" was a Colombian vallenato music traditional composer, singer and accordionist....
and, more recently, Alfredo Gutiérrez
Alfredo Gutierrez
Alfredo de Jesús Gutiérrez Vital is a Colombian Accordion player and singer famous for winning the "Vallenato Legend Festival" three times ....
and Lisandro Meza. In addition to the accordion, the bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
has been a common part of vallenato ensembles since it was introduced by Caliya in the mid-1960s. The most recent modernization of vallenato occurred in 1993 when Carlos Vives
Carlos Vives
Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo is a Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy Award winning-Colombian singer, composer and actor.-Biography:...
released Clásicos de la Provincia
Clásicos de la Provincia
Clásicos de la Provincia is the breakthrough album by Colombian singer/composer Carlos Vives.Released in late 1993, internationally on February 22, 1994, it contained three chart-topping hits that propelled Vives to fame in Latin America...
, which made him into a star and changed the face of vallenato.
Vallenato has spawned several subgenres, including vallenato-protesta, which is known for socially aware lyrics, and charanga vallenata, which was invented by Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
ns in the United States like progenitor Roberto Torres
Roberto Torres
Roberto Torres is a Cuban musician from Güines most famous for his interpretation of Simón Díaz's Caballo Viejo. He is considered to be one of the highest authorities in the history of the Cuban music. His singing career with Sonora Matancera puts him at the peaks and among the top singers of Cuba...
.
Other Caribbean genres
- Chalupe
- ChampetaChampetaChampeta is the cultural phenomenon and musical genre of independent and local origin from the African descendents inthe areas in and around Cartagena de Indias,...
- Chande
- Cumbión
- Bullerengue
- Décimas
- Fandango
- GaitaGaita (music style)Gaita is a style of Venezuelan folk music from Maracaibo in Zulia State. According to Joan Corominas, it may come from gaits, the Gothic word for "goat", which is the skin generally used for the membrane of the furro instrument. Other instruments used in gaita include maracas, cuatro, charrasca and...
- Lumbalú
- Mapalé
- Maya
- Merecumbé
- Mode Up/Mud Up
- Pajarito
- Parrandí
- PilónPilónPilón is a Cuban musical form and a popular dance created in the 1950s, its creation is often attributed to bandleader and singer Pacho Alonso. The rhythms of Pilón are based on the motions of pounding sugarcane....
- Pompo
- Porro
- Puya
- Son Sabanero
- Son Palenquero
- Tambora
- Tamborito
Currulao
This is one of the most African influenced-styles in all of Colombia, and has its roots among the Afro-ColombianAfro-Colombian
Afro Colombians refers to Colombians of African ancestry, and the great impact they have had on Colombian culture. Notable Afro-Colombians include Colombian scientists like Raul Cuero, writers like Manuel Zapata Olivella and politicians:...
/African-descendant/Black people of the Pacific coast
Pacific Region of Colombia
The Pacific Region is one of the five major natural regions of the Colombian geography. The Pacific region covers the area near the Pacific Ocean in Colombia that contains certain endemic species and ecosystems accompanied by Colombian cultural influence....
.
In its most basic form, the currulao is played by a group of four musicians.
One musician plays a 6-8 rhythm on a drum known as a "cununo", which superficially resembles the "alegre" drum (used in Cumbia) to the untrained eye, but is narrower and taller. The Currulao rhythm is created by both striking the skin of the drum with the one's hand and tapping the side of the drum with a small stick.
The second musician keeps time on a shaker known in parts of Colombia as a "guasá"(goo-ah-SAH) or "guache"(goo-AH-cheh), which is typically a hollow cylinder made of metal, wooden, or guadua bamboo, filled with light seeds, rice is sometimes used in home-made guasás.
But the main instrument of the currulao style is perhaps the Colombian marimba, a wooden xilophone which resembles the African balafon
Balafon
The balafon is a resonated frame, wooden keyed percussion idiophone of West Africa; part of the idiophone family of tuned percussion instruments that includes the xylophone, marimba, glockenspiel, and the vibraphone...
also for the style of playing.
Many groups in Colombia perform this traditional style of music. Currently, the most renowned groups include Grupo Socavón, Grupo Gualajó, and Grups Bahia Trio. A well renowned figure among the old marimbero masters in Colombia is Baudilio Cuama Rentería from Buenaventura Colombia.
In the United States two Colombian Bands performing this genre with authentic traditional instruments are La Cumbiamba NY, on the east coast (New York), and Aluna Band in the west coast (San Francisco). In 2010, Currulao has been added to the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness on intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and the local people who sustain these forms of cultural...
.
Other Pacific genres
- Abozao
- Aguabajo
- Alabao
- Andarele o Amanecer
- Arrullo
- Bambara Negra
- Bambuco Viejo
- Berejú
- Boga
- Bunde Chocoano
- Caderona
- Calipso Chocoano
- Chigualo o Gualí
- Contradanza Chocoana
- Danza Chocoana
- Jota Chocoana
- Juga
- La Caramba
- La Madruga
- Makerule
- Mazurka chocoana
- Pango o Pangora
- Patacoré
- Polka Chocoana
- Porro Chocoano
- Pregón
- Romance
- Salve
- Saporrondón o Sapo-Rondó
- Son Chocoano
- Tamborito Chocoano
- Tiguarandó
- Villancico Chocoano
Bambuco
BambucoBambuco
Bambuco is a traditional music genre originated from Colombia. It has a beat structure similar to the European waltz or polska...
is an indigenous form of music with European influence, sometimes known as Música del interior. Bambuco is said to have originated from the Muisca
Muisca
Muisca was the Chibcha-speaking tribe that formed the Muisca Confederation of the central highlands of present-day Colombia. They were encountered by the Spanish Empire in 1537, at the time of the conquest...
Indians due to it sad and slow rhythm. Its popularity has long been, but was extremely popular across Colombia from the mid-1920s to the late 1930s. Artists include Estudiantina
Estudiantina
The Estudiantina waltz, or Band of Students Waltz is a musical arrangement, made in 1883, by Emile Waldteufel, which would be his Opus 191, No. 4. Its melody was composed earlier in 1881 by Paul Lacome, with lyrics by J. de Lau Lusignan....
, Los Carranguerros De Raquira, Jaime Llano González, Jorge Villamil
Jorge Villamil
Jorge Villamil Cordovez was a Colombian composer and song writer born in El Cedral, a large coffee plantation near Neiva . He was one of the most prolific and important composers of Colombia and South America. Villamil's talent was evident when he learned to play Colombian tipleat 4 years of age...
, and the Morales Pino Trío
Morales Pino Trío
The Trío Morales Pino was a Colombian band. The band recorded a large number of discs with traditional Colombian music. The trio was innovative in its use of Colombian traditional instruments: the Bandola, Tiple, and guitar...
.
Other Andean Genres
- Bambuco fiestero
- Bunde
- Caña
- Cañabrava
- Carranga
- Copla
- Danza Criolla
- Porro Antioqueño
- Rajaleña
- RumbaRumbaRumba is a family of percussive rhythms, song and dance that originated in Cuba as a combination of the musical traditions of Africans brought to Cuba as slaves and Spanish colonizers. The name derives from the Cuban Spanish word rumbo which means "party" or "spree". It is secular, with no...
Campesina - Fandanguillo Criollo
- Guabina
- Guaneña
- Guasca
- PasilloPasilloPasillo is a South American genre of music extremely popular in the territories that composed 19th century Gran Colombia: Colombia; Ecuador, where it is considered the national musical style; and to a lesser extent in the mountainous regions of Venezuela and Panamá...
- Sanjuanero
- Torbellino
- Vueltas Antioqueñas
- Criollo waltzWaltzThe waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
Joropo
Música llanera is a harpHarp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
-led genre of music from Los Llanos popular throughout Colombia. It includes the traditional joropo
Joropo
The Joropo is a musical style resembling the waltz, and an accompanying dance, having African and European influences originated in Venezuela and performed in Colombia and Venezuela. It's a fundamental genre belonging to its typical music or música criolla...
musical style, and is known for verbal contests called contrapunteo. Artists in this genre include Alfredo Rolando Ortiz
Alfredo Rolando Ortiz
Dr. Alfredo Rolando Ortiz is an internationally acclaimed soloist of the arpa paraguaya , a composer, author, educator and recording artist. Alfredo considers his most important concert playing the harp in the delivery room during the birth of his second daughter, Michelle Ortiz.- Biography :In...
(born in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
), Alma Llanera (band), Grupo Cimarrón (band), Luis Ariel Rey, Carlos Rojas
Carlos Rojas
Carlos Rodolfo Rojas Rojas is a Chilean football midfielder who played for Chile in the 1950 FIFA World Cup. He also played for Unión Española.-External links:*...
, Sabor Llanero, Arnulfo Briceño, and Orlando Valdemarra. This particular type of music is also popular in Venezuela due to the shared llanos. It is considered to be the national music of Venezuela. Listen joropo music .
Other Orinoco region genres
- Cachicama
- Catira
- Chipola
- Contrapunteo
- Corrío
- Galerón
- Gaván
- Gavilan
- Guacaba
- Guacharaca
- Juana Guerrero
- Merecure
- Moña or Moño
- Pajarillo
- Pasaje
- Periquera
- Perro de Agua
- Poema Llanero
- Quirpa
- SeisSeisThe seis is a type of Puerto Rican dance music, related to décima. It originated in the later half of the 17th century in the southern part of Spain. The word means six, which may have come from the custom of having six couples perform the dance, though many more couples eventually became quite...
- Zumba-que-zumba
Insular Region (Colombia)Insular Region (Colombia)The Insular Region is considered by some as a geopolitical region of Colombia which comprises the areas outside the continental territories of Colombia and includes the San Andrés y Providencia Department in the Caribbean sea and the Malpelo and Gorgona Islands in the Pacific Ocean...
- CalipsoCalypso musicCalypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
- Foxtrot
- MazurkaMazurkaThe mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the third or second beat.-History:The folk origins of the mazurek are two other Polish musical forms—the slow machine...
- MentoMentoMento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It has its roots in calypso and other Jamaican folk music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the...
- Praise Hymn
- Pasillo isleño
- Polca
- QuadrilleQuadrilleQuadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing. It is also a style of music...
- ReggaeReggaeReggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
- SchottischeSchottischeThe schottische is a partnered country dance, that apparently originated in Bohemia. It was popular in Victorian era ballrooms as a part of the Bohemian folk-dance craze and left its traces in folk music of countries such as Argentina , Finland , France, Italy, Norway , Portugal and Brazil , Spain ...
- socaSoca musicSoca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
- Vals isleño
- zoukZoukZouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe & Martinique. Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish dance, the...
Contemporary music
Colombian rock musicRock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
In the late 1950s, Mexican rockRock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
artists like Enrique Guzmán
Enrique Guzmán
Enrique Guzmán is a Mexican singer. He is the father of Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán by his former wife, actress and politician Silvia Pinal....
and César Costa
César Costa
César Costa is a Mexican actor and rock-and-roll singer.Costa was born in Colonia Condesa of the Mexican capital. He studied elementary and Junior Highschool at the Colegio Alemán and Law at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México ....
became very popular in Colombia. Soon, native rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
s like Los Speakers
Los Speakers
Los Speakers was a Colombian rock band from the 1960s.Much of their recorded material consisted of covers of popular bands of the era including the Byrds and the Beatles, as well as a couple of obscure Spanish group Los Brincos...
and The Flippers gained a wide following. Starting in 1967 (see 1967 in music
1967 in music
The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The...
), native bands like Génesis
Genesis (Colombian rock band)
Génesis was a Colombian folk-rock band, very popular during the 1970s. They are regarded as a significant part of the Colombian social progressive and hippy movements of the time. Génesis is considered a pioneer in fusing rock music with the native folk music of Colombia...
(unrelated to the more famous band Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
of a similar name) fused native musical forms (like cumbia) with rock. Marco, the voice of the Rock and Roll, was a pioneer and promoter of the "Rockabilly Colombian" performed with his unmistakable personal stamp in their own language. Virtuality is in their first recordings routed to the sensitive listener to enjoy the simplicity of rock bass, guitar and drums, combined into a whole to produce a very particular and in an atmosphere of a home recording studio, filled with reel tapes and three microphones mixed in mono line. (Marco Tulio Sanchez B) contributed to the Colombian rock and roll look to the past to remember our roots, dabbling in country and rockabilly music evokes Elvis Presley, is called today the "Elvis colombiano", awarded abroad for their ability on stage as a whole "Showman" and the unmistakable voice of Cronn rocker.
Rock in Colombia gained great popularity during the 1980s with the arrival of bands such as Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
(Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
), Los Prisioneros
Los Prisioneros
Los Prisioneros was a chilean rock band formed in San Miguel, Santiago, Chile in 1982. They began as a local band during the early 1980s, playing small shows in their neighborhood and high school...
(Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
), and Hombres G
Hombres G
Hombres G is a Spanish pop rock band, formed in Spain in 1982. They are widely considered one of Spain's most important groups of the late 1980s and 1990s...
(Spain). During the 90's, many punk and heavy metal bands appeared in Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali. Colombia has possibly the biggest underground, hardcore, metal and punk movement of the continent, and is known in Latin America as the "punk corner". Aterciopelados
Aterciopelados
Aterciopelados , also referred to as los Aterciopelados on some albums and other promotional materials, are a rock band from Colombia. Led by Andrea Echeverri and Héctor Buitrago, they have been one of the first rock bands from Colombia to gain international notice and is among the country's top...
, Kraken
Kraken (band)
Kraken is a heavy metal band founded in Medellín, Colombia, in 1983. The current lineup consists of Andrés Leiva , Julian Puerto , Luis Alberto Ramírez , Rubén Gelvez , and Elkin Ramírez...
and Masacre are some of the most important Colombian rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
s.
The music event Rock al parque
Rock al parque
Rock al Parque, is a rock music festival taking place in Bogotá, Colombia, since 1995. The festival's entry is free of charge. In 2004, 400,000 people reached the event. It is considered the most important rock festival in Latin America. It has ska, punk, hardcore, metal, and other genres on its...
celebrated yearly in Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
is the largest free Rock festival in Latin America; around 100 bands playing their music along 3 days and 400,000 people in attendance. Currently, Doctor Krápula, a rock band with strong ska influences that is known for making covers of traditional Latin American songs, enjoys great popularity. The most popular Colombian Rock band outside of Colombia is The Monas
The Monas
The Monas is a Colombian - American rock band from Miami, Florida.-History:The Monas are best known for their top ten hit singles "Cae la Noche" and "Tu" on Latin Alternative Charts....
, winners of a Billboard Award and Mick Jagger's favorite Latin Rock Band. Aside from playing to sold out crowds from New York to Los Angeles, They played at SXSW festival in Austin, TX and to fifty thousand people at the Latin Grammys in L.A. The Monas
The Monas
The Monas is a Colombian - American rock band from Miami, Florida.-History:The Monas are best known for their top ten hit singles "Cae la Noche" and "Tu" on Latin Alternative Charts....
have played with Rage Against The Machine, Iggy Pop, The Presidents of The United States of America, Bowling for Soup, La Secta, Lucybell and others.
Other popular and interesting bands are Ekhymosis, a group lead by Juanes, who began making music in 1988 and are known for doing Rock with a Colombian influence, The Hall Effect
The Hall Effect (band)
The Hall Effect is aColombian alternative rock band that formed in Bogotá in 2004. Since 2007 they have found increasing national success, as the singles from their album Aim at me were placed in rotation in numerous national radio networks....
who make English pop/rock linked with britpop influences, Proper Strangers avant-garde rock, Divagash electronic soft-rock, La Pestilencia post-hardcore, Bajo Tierra, Palenke Soultribe
Palenke Soultribe
Palenke Soultribe is a live electronic music trio fusing electronic sounds with Afro-Colombian rhythms and melodies. Originally formed in Colombia, but now based in Los Angeles, Palenke Soultribe Palenke Soultribe is a live electronic music trio fusing electronic sounds with Afro-Colombian rhythms...
(traditional Colombin roots music fused with electronic beats). But, possibly, the most successful "indie" band is Sidestepper
Sidestepper
For the enemy in the Mario Bros game, seeRecurring enemies in the Mario seriesSidestepper is a Colombian band centered around English DJ/producer Richard Blair and Colombian producer/songwriter Ivan Benavides. Their sound is influenced both by Afro-Colombian popular music styles like salsa and...
, with its fusion of Colombian traditional music, electronic and African rhythms, who already appeared in Coachella Festival in 2006. Some musical groups in the death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
genre are Carnivore Diprosopus, Mindly Rotten, Suppuration, Ethereal and Amputated Genitals. Colombia is also the birthplace of the well known black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
band Inquisition
Inquisition (Colombian band)
The band Inquisition was formed in 1988 in Cali, Colombia by Dagon. The band started as a thrash metal act, and in 1994 evolved into raw black metal....
, now based in Seattle, Washington. Miguel Fernando Trapezaris, the bassist of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
-based Epic Power Metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
band Winter's Verge
Winter's Verge
Winter's Verge is a power metal band formed in Nicosia, Cyprus in 2004. Winter's Verge is one of the best-known bands from Cyprus and one of the few artists signed to an international record label and having participated in overseas tours, most notably with Finnish band Stratovarius...
, is of Colombian descent.
Bogotá is an electronic music city too, with a lots of concerts and raves, just as in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
or Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Colombian Pop musicPop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
Lucas Arnau
Lucas Arnau is a Colombian singer-songwriter who was born in Medellín, Antioquia on May 16, 1979.Arnau's first album, "Un Poco Más" was produced by Jose Gaviria and Andres Munera in Miami, Florida and was released in Latin America in April, 2004....
or Mauricio & Palodeagua
Mauricio & Palodeagua
Mauricio & Palodeagua is a Colombian tropipop band based around singer Mauricio Rodríguez. Starting in 2003, they have released three albums. They have had numerous hits in Colombian radio as well as some moderate international successes...
. Pop with strong traces of traditional Colombian music, named Tropipop
Tropipop
Tropipop is a Music genre born in Colombia in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It is a blend of traditional musical forms of the Caribbean Region of Colombia, mainly Vallenato, with foreign latin genres such as Salsa and Merengue, and Pop and Pop rock...
, is also rising currently. Fonseca
Juan Fernando Fonseca
Fonseca is the artistic name of Juan Fernando Fonseca, a Colombian singer who was born on May 29, 1979 in Bogotá.He debuted in 2002 with his first CD, Fonseca, which was popular in his home country...
and Maía
Maía
Mónica Andrea Vives Orozco, more commonly known as Maía is a Colombian singer-songwriter.-History:Mónica Vives Orozco is the only child of Rafael Vives and Mónica Orozco...
represent this trend.
Many Colombian artists are recognized internationally including among others:
- ShakiraShakiraShakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
is the most recognized Colombian artist. After the success of her album Pies DescalzosPies descalzos-Personnel:* Shakira – producer, songwriter, vocals* Luis Fernando Ochoa – producer, mixer, songwriter, background vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, percussion* Alvaro Farfan – director* Victor DiPersia – engineer, mixer* Camillo Montilla – engineer, piano...
in 1995, Shakira began working with producer Emilio Estefan Jr. and recorded ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones?¿Dónde están los ladrones?-Personnel:* Shakira - Producer, Songwriter, vocals, harmonica* Emilio Estefan Jr. - Executive producer* Javier Garza - Producer, engineer, mixer, programmer* Luis Fernando Ochoa - Producer, songwriter, guitar, bass guitar...
which sold millions world wide. Proving herself as more than a "studio pop-diva" in her MTV UnpluggedMTV Unplugged (Shakira album)Bonus Features# Timeline# Albums# Photo Gallery# Making Of - Chart Performance :- Sales and certifications :- Awards :- Credits :* Shakira - Producer, songwriter, arranger, lead vocals, harmonica, guitar....
presentation, Shakira went on to make an English album Laundry ServiceLaundry ServiceSome critics criticized the effectiveness of Shakira's lyrics, claiming that her English skills were too weak for her to write in that language, but nearly all agreed on her unique poetic imagery...
which debuted at #3 in the Billboard Charts of the USA.
Her most successful songs are Hips Don't Lie
Hips Don't Lie
"Hips Don't Lie" is a Latin pop song based in a salsa and cumbia performed by Colombian singer Shakira and Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, released in 2006 as the second single from Shakira's second English album Oral Fixation Vol. 2...
, which sold over 10 million copies and downloads worldwide, topped in over 70 countries #1, and the new song "She Wolf"
She is winner of 2 American and 7 Latin Grammies. 2008, Shakira was nominated for a Golden Globe.
- Singer-songwriterSinger-songwriterSinger-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
JuanesJuanesJuan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez , better known as Juanes is a Colombian musician who was a member of heavy metal band Ekhymosis and is now a solo artist. In 2000, his solo debut album Fíjate Bien won three Latin Grammy Awards.Juanes has sold more than 13 million albums...
swept the Latin Grammys in 2003 with his album Un Día NormalUn día normal-Charts:-Certifications:-Singles:-Charts:-References:...
which has become very popular in the US and Europe.
Juanes is the most important Colombian artist of the last decade as he has said Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine and the newspaper El Espectador
El Espectador
El Espectador is a newspaper with national circulation within Colombia, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez on 22 March 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá...
in Colombia due to the success of songs such as "Fíjate Bien
Fíjate Bien (song)
"Fíjate Bien" is a song written and performed by Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes. The song is the title track and first radio single off of his debut solo studio album, Fíjate Bien....
", "A Dios le Pido
A dios le pido
"A Dios le Pido" is the lead single from the Spanish studio album Un Día Normal by the Latin music singer and songwriter Juanes, released in 2002 in Spain and Latin America. In 2006, the song was re-released in some countries in Europe, right after the success of "La Camisa Negra", which charted...
", "La Camisa Negra
La camisa negra
"La Camisa Negra" is a Spanish rock song written by Colombian singer-songwriter Octavio Mesa and recorded by Juanes for his third studio album Mi Sangre...
" and "Me Enamora
Me Enamora
"Me Enamora" is a song written and performed by Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes. The song is the first radio single of his fourth solo studio album La Vida... Es un Ratico and it received three awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video at the Latin Grammy...
" which have occupied at # 1 on the charts in America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand and albums Fíjate Bien
Fíjate Bien
Fíjate Bien is the debut album by the Colombian Latin music singer-songwriter Juanes, released on October 17, 2000. The album was produced by Gustavo Santaolalla, who is known for his contributions to Latin rock tracks. All the songs on the album were written by Juanes himself...
, Un Dia Normal
Un día normal
-Charts:-Certifications:-Singles:-Charts:-References:...
, Mi Sangre
Mi Sangre
Mi Sangre is the third studio album by Colombian Latin singer-songwriter Juanes, released on September 28, 2004.- Re-releases :...
and La Vida... Es un Ratico
La Vida... Es un Ratico
La Vida... es un Ratico is the fourth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes, which was released on October 23, 2007.-Album history:...
Platinum release.
Juanes was chosen by CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
as a global icon and is the youngest of the list. His humanitarian activism has characterized him as the most supportive artist in the history of Spanish music. Since he began in the music Juanes has broken records with the Latin Grammys since their creation.
- Fanny LúFanny LuFanny Lucía Martínez Buenaventura , known professionally as Fanny Lú, is a Colombian singer-songwriter and actress from Santiago de Cali, Colombia.-Early life:...
, from the southern city of Santiago de CaliSantiago de CaliSantiago de Cali , simply referred to as Cali, is a city in western Colombia and the capital of the Valle del Cauca Department. With a population of 2.5 million, Cali is the third largest city in the country. It has one of the fastest growing economies and infrastructure in the country because...
has released two full-length albums, Lágrimas CálidasLágrimas CálidasLágrimas Cálidas is the debut album by Colombian singer-songwriter Fanny Lú, released by Universal Music Latino on August 8, 2006.-Tracklisting:-Charts:...
, and Dos. The former produced two hits, "No Te Pido Flores," and "Y Si Te Digo." The later,"Tú No Eres Para Mi." She also serves as Goodwill AmbassadorGoodwill AmbassadorGoodwill Ambassador is a collective term sometimes used as a substitute honorific title or a title of honor for an Ambassador of Goodwill; but, most appropriately for a generic recognition, it is a job position or description that is usually indicated following the name of the individual recognized...
to the United Nations. - MaíaMaíaMónica Andrea Vives Orozco, more commonly known as Maía is a Colombian singer-songwriter.-History:Mónica Vives Orozco is the only child of Rafael Vives and Mónica Orozco...
, hailing from the same port city as Shakira, BarranquillaBarranquillaBarranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
, the trilingual artist has topped the charts with several international hits including "Niña Bonita," "Se Me Acabó El Amor," and "Ingenuidad." - IlonaIlona (singer)Ilona is a singer-songwriter born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her beginnings in music were through presentations on the public transport bus service in Bogotá when she was 15 years old, and her surprised audience gave her money...
, a native of Colombia's capital city, BogotáBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, she cut her teeth singing in the public transport bus servicePublic transport bus serviceBus services play a major role in the provision of public transport. These services can take many forms, varying in distance covered and types of vehicle used, and can operate with fixed or flexible routes and schedules...
at the age of 15. She has released two full-length studio albums including Desde Mi Ventana and the Latin Grammy Award nominated Allá En El SurAllá en el surAllá En El Sur is the second studio album released by Colombian singer-songwriter Ilona on February 12, 2008. The album received a nomination for a Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album at the 8th Latin Grammy Awards, losing to Yo Canto by Italian performer Laura...
. - Carlos VivesCarlos VivesCarlos Alberto Vives Restrepo is a Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy Award winning-Colombian singer, composer and actor.-Biography:...
- SorayaSoraya (musician)Soraya was an American singer/songwriter, guitarist, arranger and record producer.A successful Colombian music star, she had two number-one songs on Billboard's Latin Pop Airplay charts...
- Lucas ArnauLucas ArnauLucas Arnau is a Colombian singer-songwriter who was born in Medellín, Antioquia on May 16, 1979.Arnau's first album, "Un Poco Más" was produced by Jose Gaviria and Andres Munera in Miami, Florida and was released in Latin America in April, 2004....
Colombian urban and hip-hop music
Hip Hop came to Colombia in the late 1980s when a few US Hip-Hop tracks by NWA and MC Hammer spurred a break-dancing fever among the young of the less privileged areas of major cities such as Medellín, Cali and Bogotá. Towards the end of this decade groups began to form, eventually leading to complete album productions in the mid 1990s. La Etnnia and Gotas de RapGotas de Rap
Gotas de Rap "Drops of Rap" are a Colombian Rap Group from Bogotá. They toured Europe in 1995 and in their songs they rap in Spanish about the social and political problems in Colombia. They had huge success among the ghettos and rappers but never reached stardom because of their controversial...
were two of the various hip-hop groups that emerged and are widely considered as the pioneers of Colombian Rap. Promoting a very independent style, both groups expressed extreme political and social views, protesting violence, corruption, inequality and hardships in the marginalized regions of Colombia. Then Asilo 38 from Cali come onto the scene with the albums 'La Hoguera'[2000] and 'La Descarga'[2002] presenting a more commercial and polished sound, while still retaining strong socio-political messages.
Its about this time that Reggaeton from Puerto Rico surges in popularity and Hip-Hop in Colombia takes a back seat for a while as artists try their hand at the new controversial sound. Artist(s) such as Tres Pesos, J Balvin
J Balvin
Jose Alvaro Osorio Balvin known artistically as J Balvin, is a Colombianreggaeton recording artist. Balvin was born in Medellín, the largest district of Antioquia, where he became interested in music at a young age.-Nuestra Tierra winnners:...
, Reykon y Yelsid establish themselves in this genre and hits such as 'Baila (Negra de trasero grande)' by 'Leka el Poeta' and the explixcitly worded 'La Quemona' and 'Micaela' by Master Boy take the country by storm. Even the first ever Colombian 'X Factor' in 2006 produces a Reggaeton singer called Farina Pao Paucar Franco who places third in the competition.
Reggae has always been popular in the Colombian Caribbean islands of San Andres and Providence and Spanish Reggae from Panama has helped to strengthen the movement of Reggae artists in the Colombian interior. Artists such as Voodoo Soul Jah, Nawal
Nawal
Nawal is a musician from Comoros. Her music draws on traditional Comorian influences and incorporates sounds from African and Arabic culture. She plays many instruments, including the guitar and qanbūs...
and Alerta Kamarada (Colombian representatives in the Jamaican Reggae festival) are currently spearheading this ever more popular genre in Colombia.
2006 brings a renaissance in Colombian Hip-Hop in the form of Afro-Colombian group ChocQuibTown, fusing traditional rhythms and instruments from their native lands in the Colombian Pacific into their sound. Already hailed as the new phenemomenon in Colombian Hip-Hop, their popularity is ever increasing and making way for other Urban artists to emerge. On the international stage Aztek Escobar based in Houston, Tres Coronas
Tres Coronas
Tres Coronas are a rap group formed in New York City by two Colombian rappers Rocca & P.N.O. with Dominican rapper Reychesta "Secret Weapon". Created in 2001, the group released mixtapes in the United States, Colombia, France and Spain before founding their label Parcero Productions, with which...
based in New York, Adassa
Adassa
Adassa is an American reggaetón singer-songwriter also known as the "Reggaetón Princess".-Early life:Adassa was born in Miami, Florida but raised in St...
based in Miami and 3 of the seven-man group of Culcha Candela
Culcha Candela
Culcha Candela is a Dancehall group from Berlin, Germany, formed in 2001. Their lyrics range from political issues, such as "Una Cosa" or "Schöne, neue Welt" to party songs, such as "Partybus"...
in Berlin, Germany are representing Colombian urban music worldwide.
External links
Audio clips: Traditional music of the Colombia. Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010.- www.antipoda.net
- A small trip through Colombian music A small trip through the music of the natural regions of Colombia including pictures of the different instruments and music samples.
- Sounds and Colours South American music and culture magazine, with plenty of features on Colombian music.
- Listen llanera music