Vocalists Goyo and Tostao finish each other's sentences as naturally as they switch between English and Spanish. That鈥檚 because they鈥檙e also husband and wife and members of the trio ChocQuibTown, along with Goyo鈥檚 brother Slow Mike. Their blend of dancehall, hip-hop, and Afro-Latin jazz is a call and response to the African diaspora.
They鈥檙e now based in Miami but are originally from Choc贸, a coastal region in Colombia where the is descended from enslaved Africans. They said moving to the American capital of Latin music was one of their dreams.
鈥淣ow our message is going to be a little bit bigger, you know, because now we got big platforms to speak up,鈥� Tostao said.
ChocQuibTown wants to show Latin music fans that now-mainstream genres, like reggaeton, actually originated as forms of Black resistance鈥攁 point they make in a recent episode of the music series . It summarizes the creation stories of Latin genres, like champeta and salsa, by centering their African roots.
In that episode, they say the drum is the common ancestor of Afro-Latin diasporic music noting, 鈥渨ith the strike of a hand, the skin of the drum screams 鈥榝reedom!鈥� And it becomes a symbol of rebellion and celebration.鈥�
The G茅nero 101 episode, and the podcast , were produced to educate fans on what鈥檚 owed to Black artists in the urbano movement. ChocQuibTown has collaborated with some of these pioneers, including .
鈥淛ust like we value the work of African-American rappers, it鈥檚 important for Latin Americans to understand the importance of Tego Calder贸n, who is one of the only urban artists to talk about what it鈥檚 like to be 鈥榥egro y feo鈥� [鈥楤lack and ugly鈥橾 in our society,鈥� Goyo said.
She said she doesn鈥檛 think these Black pioneers are given enough recognition because of gaps in music education, but projects like Loud and are trying to change that.
In the first episode of Loud, narrator and reggaeton pionera Ivy Queen reminds urbano fans that one of reggaeton鈥檚 first hits 鈥� then called reggae en espa帽ol 鈥� was a song against police brutality.
鈥淚t was a diss, but a diss that you could dance to,鈥� Ivy Queen says on the podcast.
Some of ChocQuibTown鈥檚 most joyful songs like 鈥�鈥� and 鈥�鈥� are anthems against inequality and anti-Blackness. But the group rejects the idea that songs with social commentary should be danceable in order to earn commercial success.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 just how we are,鈥� ChocQuibTown said.
