Cumbia villera ("shantytown cumbia", [ˈkumbja βiˈʃeɾa]) is a typically Argentine form of cumbia music born in the villas miseria (shantytowns) around Buenos Aires and then popularized in other large urban settlements. Cumbia is originally a Colombian folk dance and dance music and is Colombias representative national dance and music along with vallenato. ... A villa miseria is a form of shanty town or slum found in Argentina, mostly around the largest urban settlements. ... Shanty towns are units of irregular low-cost and self-constructed housing built on terrain seized and occupied illegally -- usually on lands belonging to third parties, most often located in the urban periphery of the cities. ... For other uses, see Buenos Aires (disambiguation). ...

Origins

Ever since the 1930s there has been a strong migration from the provinces (as well as from neighboring Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia) to the Greater Buenos Aires area, with migrants bringing along their dance styles. The musical mix and the dynamics of big-city life eventually gave birth to new styles. Notably, chamamé from Corrientes was cross-pollinated with Brazilian and Andean rhythms and cuartetazo from Córdoba. During the 1970s and 1980s, tropical was used as a catch-all term for this hybrid. The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Net migration rates for 2006: positive (blue) and negative (orange) Human migration denotes any movement by humans from one locality to another (migration), often over long distances or in large groups. ... Argentina is subdivided in 23 provinces (Spanish: provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 federal district (capital federal). ... Gran Buenos Aires or Greater Buenos Aires is the metropolitan area next to the city of Buenos Aires and comprises the following 24 partidos (administrative subdivisions) of the Province of Buenos Aires. ... Chamamé is a folk music genre from the Argentine Mesopotamia (Littoral). Jesuit Reductions in the area impulsed a cultural growth in the area that lasted until the Jesuits were expelled by the Spanish Crown in the late 18th century. ... Corrientes is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. ... The Andes between Chile and Argentina Planes view of the Andes, Peru. ... Cuarteto or cuartetazo (Spanish: quartet) is a musical genre born in Córdoba, Argentina. ... Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas mountains on the Suquía River, about 700 km west-northwest from Buenos Aires. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... The 1980s refers to the years of and between 1980 and 1989. ...

Partly due to the popularity of Peruvian and Bolivian cumbia bands, the focus of tropical shifted towards cumbia just as middle-class porteños started attending upscale bailantas (tropical dance parties) in the late 1980s.

In the 1990s, commercial interests started promoting local cumbia numbers such as Amar Azul and Ráfaga with an emphasis on attracting wider audiences. Many traditional cumbia lovers started to search for more "authentic" numbers. Some bands obliged by setting on a square cumbia beat, and writing lyrics that delved ever deeper into themes of crime and drug abuse. Foremost among those was Los Pibes Chorros ("The Thieving Kids"). Other bands in this vein are Yerba Brava ("Tough Weed", a play on words referring both to yerba mate and marijuana) and Damas Gratis ("Ladies' Night", literally "Ladies for Free"). For the band, see 1990s (band). ... Ráfaga is one of the most important bands within the Argentine cumbia. ... Drug abuse has a wide range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. ... Binomial name Ilex paraguariensis A. St. ... A Cannabis sativa plant The drug cannabis, also called marijuana, is produced from parts of the cannabis plant, primarily the cured flowers and gathered trichomes of the female plant. ... Damas Gratis (Spanish for Ladies Night, literally Ladies for Free) is an Argentinian cumbia band started by Pablo Lescano in 2000. ...

The pauperization of vast segments of the population due to the economic slowdown that started in 1998 enlarged the social substrate for the genre. The term cumbia villera took hold in the media, and many bands were propelled into fame when emerging football stars from the shantytowns (such as Carlos Tévez) proclaimed their allegiance. A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows what he found. ... The Argentine economic crisis was part of the situation that affected Argentinas economy during the late 1990s and early 2000s. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... Football (soccer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Carlos Alberto Carlitos Tévez (born February 5, 1984 in Ciudadela, Buenos Aires Province) is an Argentine football striker who made his name with Argentine giants Boca Juniors and later in Brazil with Corinthians. ...

Present outlook

Radio and TV have incorporated cumbia villera into their offerings, notably on weekend omnibus variety shows, where music runs the gamut from folklore to tropical. The villeros are immediately recognizable by their long hair and bad-boy attitude, even though the more provocative lyrics are seldom broadcast. Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, material culture, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of that culture, subculture, or group. ...

An example of such lyrics, from Los Pibes Chorros (note that the translation cannot convey all shades of meaning):

Aunque no nos quieran somos delincuentes

Vamos de caño, con antecedentes

Robamos blindados, locutorios y mercados

No nos cabe una, estamos re jugados

Vendemos sustancia y autos nos choreamos

"Though nobody loves us we are mobsters"

"We are armed and have criminal records"

"We rob armored trucks, cybercafés and supermarkets"

"We're up for anything and have nothing to lose"

"We sell drugs and we steal cars"

In recent years, due to pressure from broadcasters and (allegedly) influence from Evangelical preachers active in the shantytowns, some bands have shifted back to love songs instead of, for example, commenting on the purity of the cocaine sold in the villa. The word evangelicalism usually refers to a broad collection of religious beliefs, practices, and traditions which are found among conservative Protestant Christians. ... Love songs are songs about love, a subset of songs that deal with intimacy. ... Cocaine (see also: crack) is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. ...

Influences and parallels

Whilst the arrangements of Colombian or Bolivian cumbia can be quite complex (even traditionalists like Pastor López use a full brass section), cumbia villera recordings are often made at the lowest possible expense. As this invariably entails the use of synthesizers, Argentine cumbia can be described, like Algerian raï, as a "low fidelity, high tech" genre. Image of a trumpet. ... A synthesizer (or synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument designed to produce electronically generated sound, using techniques such as additive, subtractive, FM, physical modelling synthesis, phase distortion, or Scanned synthesis. ... Raï (Arabic: راي) is a form of folk music, originated in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, African-American and Arabic musical forms, which dates back to the 1930s and has been primarily evolved by women in the culture. ...

Other than raï, cumbia villera also has obvious parallels with gangsta rap in the United States, the rhythms of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the explosion of punk rock and ska in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s, and the emergence of bad-boy reggae in 1960s Jamaica. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Location of Rio de Janeiro Coordinates: On GoogleMaps: SEE - On GoogleEarth: SEE. Country Brazil Region Southeast State Rio de Janeiro Government  - Mayor Cesar Maia (PFL) Area  - City 1,260 km²  (486. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... Ska is a Jamaica-originated music genre that combines elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Puerto Rican import reggaeton has made inroads into cumbia villera audiences, partly due to thematic similarities. Reggaeton (spelled rarely with the acute diacritic in English and known as Reguetón and Reggaetón in Spanish) is a form of dance music which became popular with Latin American (or Latino) youth during the early 1990s and spread to North American, European, Asian, and Australian audiences during the...

For years, Argentine rock and roll has had many working-class and shantytown heroes (notably Pappo and cult bands like Los Redonditos and Bersuit Vergarabat). This strain of rock is intertwined with cumbia villera in many people's preferences. Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Pappo is the pseudonym of Argentine rock musician Norberto Napolitano (Buenos Aires, 10 March 1950 - Luján, Buenos Aires province, 24 February 2005). ... Patricio Rey y Sus Redonditos de Ricota, is a rock band originally from La Plata, Argentina whose run in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s drew a cult-like following that mirrored The Grateful Dead frenzy in the States. ... Bersuit Vergarabat, formed in 1989, is one of the most important Argentine rock bands of the 1990s/2000s. ...

External links

• Damas Gratis
• MuevaMueva Spanish language portal
• Backstage (German)
• Backstage (French)
• Sociological analysis (Spanish)
• http://www.cumbiadenegros.net/