ChocQuibTown: Embracing Cultural Identity through Colombian Rap

How can the music of ChocQuibTown, from the Pacific Coast of Colombia, help students express and celebrate their cultural identity through Rap?

Know (knowledge):

• That Rap and Hip Hop are a form of universal cultural expression
• That Colombia is a country with traditions from Africa
• The importance of sharing and celebrating cultural identity
• How to play a ChocQuibTown beat using body percussion
• The definition of cypher and how to cypher in a circle
• How to sing the chorus of "Somos Pacífico" by ChocQuibTown in Spanish

Mastery Objective

• Students will be able to draw connections between music, cultural identity, and community empowerment by exploring the Colombian Hip Hop group ChocQuibTown and composing their own rap lyrics.

In this lesson, students explore Afro-Colombian cultural identity from the Pacific Coast by examining the music and lyrics of ChocQuibTown, one of the most influential modern bands in Colombia. They will investigate how ChocQuibTown uses Rap and Hip Hop culture to celebrate where they are from, and learn what it means to rapear (rap) and freestalear (freestyle) in Colombia. Students then write their own verses in Spanish after familiarizing themselves with ChocQuibTown’s original song, “Somos Pacífico,” an anthem of the Pacific Coastal Region of Colombia.

Nominated for several Latin Grammys, ChocQuibTown is one of the most innovative bands to emerge in recent years from Colombia. Hailing from El Chocó, ChocQuibTown fuses Rap, Hip Hop, Salsa, and marimba-infused rhythms to captivate fans with a unique sound that is “part social inclusion, part digital innovation, and parts roots music that originated from the Afro-Colombian traditions of the Pacific Coast.” Winners of a Latin Grammy for the 2010 song “De Donde Vengo Yo,” ChocQuibTown have also collaborated with Latin American pop titans Diego Torres and Ivete Sangalo in performing the anthem of the Fútbol (soccer) championship Copa América: “Creo En América”/“Believe in America.” ChocQuibTown’s two most recent albums, Eso Es Lo Que Hay and Behind The Machine, went gold in Colombia, and the group continues to be a driving cultural force in Latin America and beyond.

ChocQuibTown’s place of origin is El Chocó, a state in the Pacific Coastal Region that borders the Caribbean Sea. Its inhabitants are mostly of African and/or Indigenous descent. Chocoanos (people from Chocó) are the inheritors of a rich cultural heritage, stemming partly from the rare gatherings of enslaved Africans who, during fleeting moments of freedom, were able to preserve their rituals and history through the act of making music. Many of the genres of music, songs, and rhythms in El Chocó--such as abozao, juga, jota, and contradanza--have been passed down through generations and mixed with other styles of music. Cali, the capital of the Pacific Region, is known for its salsa rhythms and has a profound legacy worldwide in the now ubiquitous genre, represented by renowned groups such as Grupo Niche and Orquesta Guayacán. In Valle del Cauca you will find Currulao, the flagship rhythm of the Pacific coast. It features instruments such as marimba (traditional xylophone made of wood and gourds), bombo, guasá, and cununo, and is played daily in all parts of the region, retaining centrality to the traditions of this area.

ChocQuibTown weaves these rich traditions together, while using their music as a way to fight for social justice and empower the community in El Chocó and the greater Pacific Coastal region of Colombia, which has often been neglected due to the policy of mestizaje. Mestizaje (miscegenation) is a term promoted by the Colombian state since 1851, with the aim of “whitening” the black population and erasing racial differences. A national identity was thus formed in the pride of a tri-ethnic heritage: White, Black and Indigenous. But the idea that Colombia was built on the concept of mestizaje, with no separate ethnic populations or races, is one of the reasons the Black and Indigenous populations tend to be geographically segregated. They are targets of continued displacement from their lands as powerful groups (coffee, banana, sugar cane, oil palm, and coca plantations) appropriate their regional resources. The Pacific Coastal Region is one such place: it shares a border with Panama and Ecuador. It is one of the resource-richest in Colombia and, as a result, is bitterly contested by competing corporate and governmental agencies.

Goyo (Gloria Martinez), the female lead singer of ChocQuibTown, is emphatic in her desire to make her region of the country visible. She states, “People don’t know that the Pacific exists. Many people did not know, and now, with us, they know that our music can be mixed with other rhythms that are not from here, because our music is rich and multiple with many rhythms and sonorities.” The group’s support of the region is perhaps most pronounced in the hit single “Somos Pacífico (We are Pacific),” an anthem to the group’s roots and its cultural identity.