Champeta

Last updated

Champeta, also known as terapia, is a musical genre and dance that originated in the Caribbean coast of Colombia in the early 1980s. It developed from an earlier style termed chalusonga, which originated in Palenque de San Basilio in the mid-1970s. [1] Chalusonga was a combination of Colombian chalupa and Afro-Cuban percussive music popularized by Estrellas del Caribe. [1] When their music reached Cartagena de Indias, it evolved into champeta, which became a movement and identity among Afro-Colombians. It shows influences from African colonial settlements and from contemporary African culture, particularly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [2]

Contents

Musical characteristics

In champeta music, the rhythmic base dominates over the melodic and harmonic lines, producing a music easy to dance to and marked by its strength and plasticity. The instruments used include the voice, percussion, electric guitar, bass, conga drums, and the synthesiser, which contributes rhythmic effects. This musical form is characterised by a division into three sequential parts: the introductory music, the chorus, and el Despeluque, marked by powerful repetitive rhythms and usually accompanied by placas, interruptions counter to the rhythm. Song lyrics often display the rebellious attitude of Cartagena people of African descent, challenging social and economic exclusion or relating their dreams of change and progress.[ citation needed ]

History

Champeta knife or machetilla
. Machete knife blade.jpg
Champeta knife or machetilla.

The word champeta originally denoted a short, curved, monkey-killing knife of the same name used in the region at work, in the kitchen, and as an offensive weapon. The word is first known to have been used as a cultural identifier in the 1920s. Socio-cultural researchers and sociologists have established that at some time before the 1920s the term champetudo started to be applied to residents of the more outlying districts of Cartagena, who tended to be poorer and of African descent. The term was applied by the economic elite with the intention of disparaging this surviving culture, with associations of vulgarity, poverty and blackness. Thus champeta refers to a culture whose history is marked by slavery and mistreatment.

At the start of the 1970s, champeta culture became better-known in Colombia due to the development of a set of complex dances set to the rhythms of salsa and jíbaro and later reggae, as well as progressively more foreign or novel dance genres as providers competed for exclusivos, records other groups did not have in their library. This music was played at full volume through big loudspeakers known locally as picós (from the English word pick-up) by troupes of the same name. These early dances were called "therapy" for their relaxing nature, a distraction from the economic problems of the country.

Around 1981, "creole therapy" emerged as a musical genre to be performed and sung. Among its sources of inspiration was recorded music brought into the port of Cartagena from Africa and from other African settlements. Its first composers were people of African descent from Cartagena and Palenque de San Basilio, later joined by songwriters and entrepreneurs from Barranquilla and other parts of Colombia. It consisted in a fusion of African rhythms (soukous, highlife, mbaqanga, juju) with those from the Antilles (ragga, compás haitiano, also influenced by music of Indigenous and Afro-Colombian origins (bullerengue, mapalé, zambapalo and chalupa). This style of music came to be known as "Colombian therapy" and finally took on the name of the champeta culture. [3] During the 1990s champeta underwent further changes in its musical and other content, with the introduction of digital techniques and placas (interruptions counter to the rhythm). Despite its social origins, champeta came to be as much appreciated as rejected by the social elite.

In 2000 Champeta music had a breakthrough in the Colombian Caribbean region's market with John Sayas "El sayayín" leading the movement. [4]

Cultural aspects

Posters advertising a Champeta concert in the market of Bazurto in Cartagena de Indias Bazurto-champeta-wall.jpg
Posters advertising a Champeta concert in the market of Bazurto in Cartagena de Indias

The standard conception of champeta includes four central aspects: musical expression, the distinctive language, the loudspeakers (picós), and the perreos – celebrations. Some give equal importance to other aspects such as dance, political activism, costume, or videos. More recently this cultural phenomenon has spread to other art forms such as cinema, literature and the plastic arts. [2]

In Colombia there are many nightclubs where people can go dancing to the sound of champeta music.

Performers

Abril and Soto (2004) identify as "champeta stars" those artists who have transcended their local background and signed contracts with big national and international music companies. These include "El Sayayín" (Jhon Jairo Sayas), "El Yinker" (Jordan García), "Mr. Black El Presidente Del Genero" (Edwin Antequera), "El Afinaito" (Sergio Liñan), "Álvaro El Bárbaro" (Álvaro Zapata), "Elio Boom" (Francisco Corrales), "El Intelectual" Kevin Florez, Twister El Rey, "Yao & Zaa" Viviano Torres, Eddy Jey, among others. Torres joined the first singers of the genre to form the group Anne Swing, which achieved international fame at the end of the 1980s, appearing in the United States Top 40. More recent performers include "El Jhonky el profeta" (Jhon Einster Gutíerrez Cassianis), who died in 2005; "El Michel", who created an anthem-like song about the champeta way of life; Leo Fenix, Karly Way and El Oveja.

Champeta has also permeated the pop and salsa music scene in Colombia. For example, singer Carlos Vives adopted the genre in the song "Pa' Maite" and shows some of this influence elsewhere. [7] Similarly, salsa singer Joe Arroyo, aiming to highlight what is of African or indigenous origin in the Caribbean and Cartagena, combines various African musical influences such as champeta, and is described on many of his discs as champetuo, for example La rebelión.

Cinema

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartagena, Colombia</span> City in coastal northern Colombia

Cartagena, known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias, is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link in the route to West Indies provides it with important historical value for world exploration and preservation of heritage from the great commercial maritime routes. As a former Spanish colony, it was a key port for the export of Bolivian silver to Spain and for the import of enslaved Africans under the asiento system. It was defensible against pirate attacks in the Caribbean. The city's strategic location between the Magdalena and Sinú Rivers also gave it easy access to the interior of New Granada and made it a main port for trade between Spain and its overseas empire, establishing its importance by the early 1540s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Puerto Rico</span> Music and musical traditions of Puerto Rico

The Music of Puerto Rico has evolved as a heterogeneous and dynamic product of diverse cultural resources. The most conspicuous musical sources of Puerto Rico have primarily included African, Indigenous, and European influences, although many aspects of Puerto Rican music reflect origins elsewhere in the Caribbean. Puerto Rican music culture today comprises a wide and rich variety of genres, ranging from essentially native genres such as bomba, danza, and plena to more recent hybrid genres such as salsa, Latin trap and reggaeton. Broadly conceived, the realm of "Puerto Rican music" should naturally comprise the music culture of the millions of people of Puerto Rican descent who have lived in the United States, especially in New York City. Their music, from salsa to the boleros of Rafael Hernández, cannot be separated from the music culture of Puerto Rico itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Colombia</span> Music and musical traditions of Colombia

The music of Colombia is an expression of Colombian culture, music genres, both traditional and modern, according with the features of each geographic region, although it is not uncommon 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 Amerindian, African, and European influences, as well as more modern American.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barranquilla</span> Capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia

Barranquilla is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Colombia's fourth-most populous city after Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palenquero</span> Spanish-based creole language spoken in Colombia

Palenquero or Palenque is a Spanish-based creole language spoken in Colombia. It is believed to be a mixture of Kikongo and Spanish. However, there is no sufficient evidence to indicate that Palenquero is strictly the result of a two-language contact. Palenquero is the only surviving Spanish-based creole language in Latin America, if Papiamento is excluded. Over 6,600 people spoke this language in 2018. It is primarily spoken in the village of San Basilio de Palenque which is southeast of Cartagena, and in some neighbourhoods of Barranquilla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congolese rumba</span> Genre of African music and dance

Congolese rumba, also known as African rumba, is a dance music genre originating from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. With its rhythms, melodies, and lyrics, Congolese rumba has gained global recognition and remains an integral part of African music heritage. In December 2021, it was added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caribbean region of Colombia</span>

The Caribbean region of Colombia or Caribbean coast region is in the north of Colombia and is mainly composed of 8 departments located contiguous to the Caribbean. It's the second most populated region in the country after Andean Region with approximately 11 million residents according to the Colombian Census 2018. The area covers a total land area of 110,000 km2 (42,000 sq mi), including the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina in the Caribbean Sea.

This page is a glossary of Colombian music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Guajira Department</span> Department of Colombia

La Guajira is a department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The capital city of the department is Riohacha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afro-Colombians</span> Colombian people of African descent

Afro-Colombians or African-Colombians are Colombians of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Basilio de Palenque</span> Village in Colombia

San Basilio de Palenque or Palenque de San Basilio, often referred to by the locals simply as Palenke, is a Palenque village and corregimiento in the Municipality of Mahates, Bolivar in northern Colombia. Palenque was the first free African town in the Americas, and in 2005 was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in Colombia</span>

The contribution of travel and tourism to GDP was US$5,880.3bn in 2016. Tourism generated 556,135 jobs in 2016. Foreign tourist visits were predicted to have risen from 0.6 million in 2007 to 4 million in 2017. Responsible tourism became a peremptory need for Colombia because it minimizes negative social, economic and environmental impacts and makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benkos Biohó</span> Kongo royal and Colombian slave rebel

Benkos Biohó, also known as Domingo Biohó was a Mandinka and South American leader who escaped from the slave port of Cartagena with ten others and founded San Basilio de Palenque, then known as the "village of the maroons", located in what is now Northern Colombia. In 1713 it became the first free village in the Americas by decree from the King of Spain, when he gave up sending his troops on futile missions to attack their fortified mountain hideaway.

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 Colombian music with orchestral compositions. His music is considered avant-garde and refreshing, bright, flexible and with a personal worrisome of his cultural mark, all of these are reflected in several compositions that were a hit and are part of Colombian musical history. His compositions include symphonies, chamber music, vocals and works for non-conventional musical groups.

Race and ethnicity in Colombia descends mainly from three racial groups—Europeans, Amerindians, and Africans—that have mingled throughout the last 500 years of the country's history. Some demographers describe Colombia as one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the Western Hemisphere and in the World, with 900 different ethnic groups. Most Colombians identify themselves and others according to ancestry, physical appearance, and sociocultural status. Social relations reflect the importance attached to certain characteristics associated with a given racial group. Although these characteristics no longer accurately differentiate social categories, they still contribute to one's rank in the social hierarchy. A study at the University of Brasilia determined that the average Colombian has a mixture of European 46%, native Amerindian 33%, African 20%. These proportions also vary widely among ethnicities.

Urban champeta is a subgenre of folk music and dance originating in the Atlantic coastal regions of Colombia, combining sounds of reggae, hip hop, dancehall, African rhythms, and contemporary electronic sounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Ellen Davis</span>

Martha Ellen Davis is an emeritus professor from the University of Florida, anthropologist and ethnomusicologist known for her multifarious work on African diasporic religion and music. Professor Davis' research has defied conventional tenets about Haitian and Dominican folk music, and her cultural preservation projects has raised awareness of the significance of the Samaná Americanos' enclave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumbia (Colombia)</span> Regional music and dance style

Cumbia is a folkloric genre and dance from Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumbia (Panama)</span> Folkloric genre and dance from Panama

Cumbia is a musical genre and folk dance from Panama.

<i>El Joe, la leyenda</i> Colombian TV series or program

The Joe, the leyend is a 119-episode Colombian television biopic. It is inspired by the life and works of singer Joe Arroyo. Jair Romero starred as Joe Arroyo. Mauro Castillo and Estefanía Borges also starred as Wilson Manyoma and Jacqueline Ramón, respectively. Produced by Guillermo Restrepo, the TV show was a RCN Televisión production. It was originally broadcast from 30 May to 20 December 2011.

References

  1. 1 2 Vega, Luis Daniel (30 August 2016). "Estrellas del Caribe: La champeta criolla de San Basilio de Palenque". Radio Nacional de Colombia (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 Contreras Hernández, 2002
  3. Escallón Miranda, 2007
  4. Zuleta, Melissa (12 October 2014). "La segunda ola de la champeta llegó para quedarse". EL HERALDO (in Spanish). El Heraldo.
  5. Article by This Is Cartagena on Cartagena's Music Bars, Bazurto Social Club
  6. Article by Vive In on Campanario
  7. Article by Lena Hansen on a concert of Carlos Vives, originally published in the Miami Herald

Bibliography