The song was released online this year, and can be heard in the Sounds page. This video was also made for the song.
In recent years modern cumbia songs have broken into the mainstream charts in Latin America and the USA. An interesting case is the song "Atrevete-te-te" (translated as “Dare To”) by Puerto Rican group Calle 13.
The song is a mix of cumbia and reggaeton, a form of latin dancehall music, and is built on a solid cumbia rhythm also including other elements of Colombian folk music like a clarinet riff from the coastal area.
The song, released as a single in 2006, propelled the group to international success and the track was top of the charts in many Latin American countries throughout 2006/7, peaking #1 in Colombia for two weeks and #3 in Peru and Chile where it stayed in the charts for over 40 weeks. The video for the song won the 2006 Latin Grammy for “Best Short Form Music Video”.
A sign of its widespread popularity is the fact that the same year it was released it was used by Manuel Rosales for his Venezuelan presidential campaign.
Traditional folkloric cumbia, is also being recognized in mainstream charts also, not just cumbia’s modern derivations. Colombia’s premier gaitero group “Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto” won a Latin Grammy in the Folkloric Music category for their album “Un Fuego De Sangre Pura” (A Fire Of Pure Blood) in 2007.
That same year they joined Calle 13, Cuban rap group Orishas and members of an indigenous Colombian tribe, on stage to perform a song at the 8th Annual Grammy Awards in Las Vegas. You can see the traditional cumbia dance dress that members of Los Gaiteros wear in this clip of the performance.
Interestingly the success of Calle 13 allowed them provided the money to Los Gaitero’s for their trip to Las Vegas and their visas; a case that shows while cumbia may be constantly evolving, even in its mainstream success it shows a respect for its roots.
From the slave markets of Colombia to the stage Las Vegas, cumbia has come along way and will continue to spread and mutate with the humanity that spawned it.
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