Traditional music of Colombia

Colombia is a really diverse country and as a consequence, its cultural and musical legacy is also really diverse. This diversity is due to the blend of Spanish, African and Indigenous influences that melded together during the colonial period. Spanish culture had a big influence on Colombian culture but the African and Indigenous people also played a significant role in shaping the culture and traditions of this country. 

Due to this great diversity there are many traditional Colombian musical styles, but It would be impossible to cover all of them in just one blog. That’s why I’m gonna focus my blog on two musical genres that are traditional in Colombia and that are very important to the history and the cultural legacy of my country. 

The First one is Cumbia

Cumbia 

is the national dance of Colombia and the most representative rhythm. It is also considered the source of many popular music genres of the country. It originated in the Caribbean Coast of Colombia as an African courtship dance and it evolved over the years with the addition of European instruments and Indigenous dance steps. 

The instruments usually needed to play Cumbia are:

• The caña de millo (millet cane): a type of clarinet 

• The tambor mayor: a drum that is placed between the legs and is played with both hands

• The Llamador: a drum that is played with just one hand

• The bombo: a two-headed drum that is played with two sticks 

• The guache: a tubular rattle filled with seeds 

• Maracas

  
  

  

Cumbia is usually danced at night but it is also danced in special events like festivals and carnivals. This genre of music influenced other genres of music such as El Vallenato and La musica tropical (tropical music). Vallenato is another genre that originated in the Caribbean Coast of Colombia and it has similar beats and vocals; and the Tropical music is all the music and rhythms that come from the Caribbean Coasts, not only in Colombia but also in other countries such as Puerto Rico, Cuba and Dominican Republic. 

Here is a video where you can see how Cumbia is danced and also some of the instruments that are used to play this genre of music. 

This genre has not only been important in the past, as it has influenced artists that today are recognized and represent the Colombian culture. Artists such as: Carlos Vives, Fonseca, Andrés Cabas and of course Shakira.

This is an old song of Carlos Vives that represents the influence that Cumbia has had in his music.

And this is a video of Shakira dancing Colombian Cumbia

Now I want to talk about a really different genre of music and this genre is called

Champeta

La champeta was born as a cultural movement in the 1970s in the Caribbean Coast, specifically in the areas of San Basilio de Palenque, Cartagena and Barranquilla. There is a really good history behind this musical genre. The word “ champeta” a long time ago was used to refer to a short and curved knife that people from the Caribbean coast of Colombia used as a kitchen instrument, as a weapon and to do their daily labors as well. In the 1920s this word started to be used in the social sphere; they used “champetudo” to refer to low-income Afro-colombians. 

The champeta culture started to spread in Colombia in the early 1970s when the West African sailors left behind the records of Afrobeat pioneers. The Costeños (the word used to refer to people that were born in the Caribbean Coast of Colombia) took those records as an example and created their own rhythms inspired by the African beats. They blended African rhythms, Antillian dancehall, Haitian méringue, Afro-colombian rhythms and Indigenous sounds to create what we today call Champeta. 

There are three great exponents of modern Champeta that I personally love to listen to. They are Kevin Flórez, Mr. Black “El Presidente” and GiBlack. All of them have different styles of making champeta, some of them doing a more “tropical” champeta than others but all with an incredible potential. 

Kevin Flórez was one of the first Champeta artists that I ever heard and specifically love this song because I feel it is a really tropical champeta and it just makes me want to dance. 

Another champeta artist I really like and who is really famous in Colombia is Mr. Black. He is also known as “El Presidente” and he has a lot of famous songs. This is one of his newest songs.

There is also a song that has changed the life of this artist. The song is “El Avioncito” by GiBlack and it became really popular in Colombia and as a TikTok trend as well. 

And without a doubt, we can not miss the greatest cultural exponent of Colombia: Shakira. Here is a video of this Costeña dancing champeta in the 2020 Super Bowl show. Once again, this incredible woman is showing the world the beautiful culture of our country and sharing with others the richness and diversity that we have in Colombia. For this show she brought dancers from Barranquilla, Colombia; her hometown. 

By the way, the whole show is amazing and I love that a lot Latinos had the opportunity to come to this show and represent their country and how proud they are to be Latinos. Artists such as Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez.

This other video is the whole show. And if I'm honest with you, it makes me a little emotional to see this show because it reminds me how happy I am to be a Latina and the cultural and musical richness that exists in Spanish-speaking countries. And it is very nice to see how everyday people know more about our culture and celebrate it with us.  

References

“Colombian Culture - Core Concepts.” Cultural Atlas, 2018, https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/colombian-culture/colombian-culture-core-concepts

“Everything You Need to Know About Cumbia.” Colombia Country Brand, 16 Feb. 2021, https://www.colombia.co/en/colombia-culture/everything-need-know-cumbia/

Dorsey, Danielle. “Everything You Wanted to Know About Champeta.” Culture Trip, 14 Feb. 2017, https://theculturetrip.com/south-america/colombia/articles/an-introduction-to-champeta-colombias-biggest-dance-craze/