Here’s a band name that rolls of the tongue: ChocQuibTown. How to describe them: imagine the sound of the Fugees, if they came from Colombia.

ChocQuibTown

{MUSIC: DE DONDE VENGO YO}

ChocQuibTown hails from Colombia’s Pacific coast.Choco, the region they’re from, rarely makes headlines.It’s remote and very wet, the rainiest 100,000 square miles in the world.The jungle and Choco’s rain and mud often cut it off from the rest of Colombia.

Choco by the way is the answer to our Geo Quiz.

Choco’s capital is Quibdo, hence this band’s name ChocQuibTown. Gloria Martinez, a.k.a. “Goyo,” is the lead singer for the band. I asked her to compare Choco to Bogota. She answered in English and in Spanish with the help of a translator.

GOYO: OK Bogota is a big city…..(…music is really important in the Choco region).
MARCO WERMAN: For example says Goyo, there’s rhythm in Choco called “Levantar Polvo.”

It’s a very lively rhythm. Typically, dust rises up as dancers jump around to it on dirt floors. Levantar polvo literally means “to kick-up some dust.”  Goyo illustrates it with a song.

{SINGING AND CLAPPING}
{MUSIC: PRIETOS}

ChocQuibTown

Goyo says all members of Choc Quib Town grew up in Colombia. We tuned in to MTV like everyone else. We listened to The Police, Lauryn Hill, The Fugees and Stevie Wonder, she says. And Choc Quib Town mixes those influences with traditional Colombian music.

MARCO WERMAN: Do you think of the music as music of the black diaspora or as Colombian Music?
GOYO: Los dos….
MARCO WERMAN: it’s both, she says.

The region of Choco is Afro-Colombian. African ancestors built musical instruments there. Most children in Choco are taught to respect their African ancestors. Though in school, they only talk about the strength of the Colombian people and Christopher Columbus, she says. Choc Quib Town’s music IS dance music.

But at the same time, says Goyo, our lyrics tackle difficult subjects. The song “Pescao Envenenao” is about a venomous fish.It’s a metaphor for government corruption and how it siphons off public money.

{GOYO SINGS PESCAO ENVENEAO A CAPELLA}
{MUSIC: PESCAO ENVENENAO from the CD}

A couple of years ago, Choc Quib Town ventured from Quibdo to Bogota. They recorded their first demo, and their music hit the airwaves. Even their families heard them on the radio in Choco. Now they’re in the US, and on the receiving end of rave reviews.

The group is Choc Quib Town. Their US debut CD is called “Oro.”

CD Information

Story produced by Adeline Sire