Where my journey started: My beautiful home country: Colombia!
In my last entry I mentioned how I started with the wrong foot with rap music. I think is only fair that I show you a little bit of the rap I first listened to.
Before I share the music with you, I do want you to understand that although it's obvious, I do want to make clear that my point of view, my thoughts about Colombian gangster rap have changed.
Despite the fact that I don't like some lyrics, I do appreciate and enjoy the music for the instrumentals and I now understand that a lot rappers turned to rap because they realized that talking about crime and violence was better than having to actually be either victims or perpetrators of violence. I also now understand that most expressed their feelings and wanted to give the harsh reality of Colombian society and tell the story of many people in Colombia that never had the chance to be heard.
Rap music in Colombia has been around since the 80s but it gained more following in the 90s. A lot of the Colombian and Latin-American exponents of the genre today were either influenced or inspired by Colombia's first rappers.
The pioneer rap group in Colombia, according to wikipedia was Gotas de Rap. A group from Bogota D.C. who rapped about the situation of the country in the decade: violence, drugs, corruption and poverty. They also had the first female rapper in Colombia. In 1999, Gotas De Rap dismantled because of the sudden death of Melisa, the female rapper. She died in a car accident in the US, leaving the band members and the fans devastated.
In the same decade, it was formed what would probably be the first group that made the Hip-Hop culture in Colombia gain more recognition. La Etnia, formed in the same neighborhood as Gotas del Rap, initially consisted of Kany, Kaiser, Ata, Buitre and El Zebra. Today, only Kany, Kaiser, Ata are still in the group. El Zebra left the group due to his drug addiction. They were so popular that they've been nominated to 2 MTV awards, they won the "Messengers of the Truth award" in Spain because of their lyrics that shared a social message and helped the less fortunate to have a voice.
A song that shows the influence rap from the US had on this group is La Vida en el Ghetto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w-jWfkhLMk
Something I really like about them is that they were making music ahead of their time, music that in these days is more popular like their song Malvado instinto.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzBPgKJdfFs
One of the most known rap groups in Colombia, and also the most popular one when I was in middle school was Crack Family (also known as Fondo Blanco).
It started in 1996 with Cejaz Negraz and Shaby and later on Al Roc, Askoman, Money, Fumas y Diablo would join them. With raw lyrics, they made a name for themselves in the scene and they became very popular around the country.
Today, the only founding member left is Cejaz Negraz, and with him is Money. They both have made Crack Family a big exponent of Colombian rap, even so that they've performed in different countries in Europe. Their stories are very similar; Cejaz Negraz's family moved from the country side to the capital to find new opportunities and Money moved to the US when he was five, he lived 19 years in New York and spend the last years in prison until he was deported back to Colombia.
Their lyrics tell stories about their life but also about many other lives.
A great song that tells the reality of so many people in Colombia and even in the world is Crealo mi so, where they talk about how hard it is not having opportunities, or not having health insurance and also they criticize the government and religion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGlJ9o_yoKY
They have a lot of following and their music videos in youtube reach millions. Another great song that tells the life of a thug, who's a drug addict and ends up dying because of his actions is Drogadicto en serie, which has more than 20 millions on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqomyP7RTu8
Asilo 38 were a group of friends that wanted to make rap and succeeded, they gain enough recognition to win a few awards in Colombia.
The group was founded in 2000 and they had a big following. Their most famous song probably is Carlitos Way, the story of a young boy who had problems with drugs, who thought he was a tough guy and could do whatever he wanted until someone ended his life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-VYmXEeGRo
The last group I will mention in this blog is Tres Coronas, a group that was established in early 2001 in Queens, New York. Although it was founded in Colombia, it was composed by Colombian rapper P.N.O, French-colombian rapper Rocca and Dominican rapper Reychesta. They were back then, one of the most influential rap groups in Spanish, they were widely known in countries like Spain, Venezuela, Costa Rica, United States and obviously Colombia.
Their most popular song has got to be Falsedades, which is in my opinion one of the top 10 most known rap songs in Spanish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3AFpbRNTmI
I will go over the new era of Colombian rap in my next blog, a era of deeper instrumentals, more poetry, more conscience and positive lyrics and I will focus more on single rappers.
Before I share the music with you, I do want you to understand that although it's obvious, I do want to make clear that my point of view, my thoughts about Colombian gangster rap have changed.
Despite the fact that I don't like some lyrics, I do appreciate and enjoy the music for the instrumentals and I now understand that a lot rappers turned to rap because they realized that talking about crime and violence was better than having to actually be either victims or perpetrators of violence. I also now understand that most expressed their feelings and wanted to give the harsh reality of Colombian society and tell the story of many people in Colombia that never had the chance to be heard.
Rap music in Colombia has been around since the 80s but it gained more following in the 90s. A lot of the Colombian and Latin-American exponents of the genre today were either influenced or inspired by Colombia's first rappers.
The pioneer rap group in Colombia, according to wikipedia was Gotas de Rap. A group from Bogota D.C. who rapped about the situation of the country in the decade: violence, drugs, corruption and poverty. They also had the first female rapper in Colombia. In 1999, Gotas De Rap dismantled because of the sudden death of Melisa, the female rapper. She died in a car accident in the US, leaving the band members and the fans devastated.
In the same decade, it was formed what would probably be the first group that made the Hip-Hop culture in Colombia gain more recognition. La Etnia, formed in the same neighborhood as Gotas del Rap, initially consisted of Kany, Kaiser, Ata, Buitre and El Zebra. Today, only Kany, Kaiser, Ata are still in the group. El Zebra left the group due to his drug addiction. They were so popular that they've been nominated to 2 MTV awards, they won the "Messengers of the Truth award" in Spain because of their lyrics that shared a social message and helped the less fortunate to have a voice.
A song that shows the influence rap from the US had on this group is La Vida en el Ghetto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w-jWfkhLMk
Something I really like about them is that they were making music ahead of their time, music that in these days is more popular like their song Malvado instinto.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzBPgKJdfFs
La Etnia in the front cover of Rolling Stone Colombia magazine.
One of the most known rap groups in Colombia, and also the most popular one when I was in middle school was Crack Family (also known as Fondo Blanco).
It started in 1996 with Cejaz Negraz and Shaby and later on Al Roc, Askoman, Money, Fumas y Diablo would join them. With raw lyrics, they made a name for themselves in the scene and they became very popular around the country. Today, the only founding member left is Cejaz Negraz, and with him is Money. They both have made Crack Family a big exponent of Colombian rap, even so that they've performed in different countries in Europe. Their stories are very similar; Cejaz Negraz's family moved from the country side to the capital to find new opportunities and Money moved to the US when he was five, he lived 19 years in New York and spend the last years in prison until he was deported back to Colombia.
Their lyrics tell stories about their life but also about many other lives.
A great song that tells the reality of so many people in Colombia and even in the world is Crealo mi so, where they talk about how hard it is not having opportunities, or not having health insurance and also they criticize the government and religion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGlJ9o_yoKY
They have a lot of following and their music videos in youtube reach millions. Another great song that tells the life of a thug, who's a drug addict and ends up dying because of his actions is Drogadicto en serie, which has more than 20 millions on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqomyP7RTu8
Asilo 38 were a group of friends that wanted to make rap and succeeded, they gain enough recognition to win a few awards in Colombia.
The group was founded in 2000 and they had a big following. Their most famous song probably is Carlitos Way, the story of a young boy who had problems with drugs, who thought he was a tough guy and could do whatever he wanted until someone ended his life.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-VYmXEeGRo
The last group I will mention in this blog is Tres Coronas, a group that was established in early 2001 in Queens, New York. Although it was founded in Colombia, it was composed by Colombian rapper P.N.O, French-colombian rapper Rocca and Dominican rapper Reychesta. They were back then, one of the most influential rap groups in Spanish, they were widely known in countries like Spain, Venezuela, Costa Rica, United States and obviously Colombia.
Their most popular song has got to be Falsedades, which is in my opinion one of the top 10 most known rap songs in Spanish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3AFpbRNTmI
I will go over the new era of Colombian rap in my next blog, a era of deeper instrumentals, more poetry, more conscience and positive lyrics and I will focus more on single rappers.
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