Roots to Fruits #2: Champeta

In ‘Roots to Fruits Nº2 Champeta’, Edna Martinez tells the story of Champeta, an Afro-Colombian music genre based on African rhythms, from which local producers create new sonic, visual and spatial practices, as both an outcome and facilitator of cultures of resistance.

The Picó Sound System of the Colombian Caribbean cities of Cartagena, Barranquilla and Santa Marta have created parties for people of their working-class neighborhoods, in particular for the Afro-Colombian diaspora. The issue explores the musical migration from Africa to Colombia; how it made the Afro-Colombian’s diaspora aware of its origins and colonial past; and how champeta has resisted marginalisation and continuous to break with hegemonic powers.