Let's talk Latin America
Let's talk Latin America
BristoLatino music editor Rebecca Wilson tells us all we need to know about ChocQuibTown, the Latin Grammy Award-winning Afro-Colombian hip-hop group
Who? Tropical hip-hop from Tostao (young percussionist), Goyo (female MC, singer and producer), Slow Mike (Goya’s brother, young beatmaker and technofile), and many other musicians.
Where? Founded in their town Quibdó, capital city of the Chocó region of Colombia.
Their message: Putting un paraíso llamado Chocó (a paradise called Chocó) on the map.
Their debut album ‘Somos Pacifico’ mixes urban sounds with pacific folklore. Check out the video for De Donde Vengo Yo.
The band also started an initiative, ‘ChocQuib Films’, with the same premise, to show the reality of their home that never appears on our screens.
They collaborated with Tego Calderón in 2012 and Alexis Play in 2015.
Their recent album, ‘El Mismo‘, which incorporates more electronic sounds, is now a platinum-selling record.
Two of their songs feature in the 2015 Cine Colombia nature documentary ‘Colombia Magia Salvaje’.
Has their incredible sound been tainted by their plunge into the mainstream or was this all part of the plan? This recent music video for ‘Lo Nuevo / Rumba Sin Pelea’, shows that they have money and backing now, but still demonstrates their exceptional talent. While some of their mainstream music (particularly those tracks with Vevo music videos) is decidedly poppy, this has helped propel them to a level which allows them high production value and exposure. They are doing it for recognition for Chocó, for the pacífico message.
If you like their sound check out Sidestepper, a Colombian band formed in 1996 by English DJ/producer Richard Blair, who ChocquibTown has collaborated with.
Header photo Youtube