A land forgotten by governments, but well known by armed militant groups as the never ending Colombian conflict rages on. Chocó also serves as a forest pass, for cocaine, guerrillas and as an illegal passage into north America.

As if copied from Africa and pasted into South America, Chocó, a Colombian administrative region that connects Panama to Colombia, is one of the most bio-diverse places on earth. Chocó’s unique ecosystem and unexploited natural resources are partly due to having coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.Most of the population are Afro-Colombians and the culture remains strongly pre-colonial. The name of rivers and towns retain a taste of Africa, as well as the rhythms and local traditions. Chocó is a land of contrasts, friendly and happy people in one of the lowest living standards of all Colombia.

“We met in Cali, but we grew up together in Quibdó (Chocó capital)”, tells la Goyo, about Tostao who told me he wanted to start a hip-hop crew. Something clicked in my head, and I replied at once that I’d like to also involve the folk pacific rhythms, one of my passions”. That was the beginning of Choc Quib Town, a group who dared to mix traditional rhythms from the Pacific Coast including the bunde, the currulao, the bambazú and the aguabajo, with electronic elements of music from hip-hop, funk, reggae and even some salsa.

The groups leader, Tostao (‘toasted’ because of his black skin), says: “Our main objective as a group is for our culture and music to no longer be alien in our own country, and even (throughout) the world. We want others to know everything, from what we eat to why we talk the way we do.”

And they have succeeded. At this point, Choc Quib Town is recognized as one of the most important musical phenomenons of recent years in Colombia and one of the most successful attempts to claim cultural origins in a long time.

After their first CD, Rolling Stone LA defined them as the most innovative and authentic hip-hop band in Colombia.

According to Goyo: “Today, when we go to Chocó, everyone knows what we are doing. Everyone is waiting to know when we play, and somehow we have become a reference for people”

But not only, with just two CD published, in 2009 they were nominated at Latin Grammy in US as best new artist and received really good reviews all around the country. The Washington post defined their album “Oro”: refreshing and simply delicious and Billboard wrote: “What makes Choc Quib Town’s new album “Oro” so interesting is that every track finds a new way to interpret the traditional sounds of the country’s Pacific coast. Trip-hop (“Alguien Como Tu”) and salsa (“Pescao Envenenao”) are fair game, as are a frenetic jazzy rumba (“Rumba Sin Pelea”) and electronica.

The Colombian trio went from playing on the dusty streets of Quibdó to ambassadors of their culture in the world.

Written and photographed by Simone Bruno

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wSNLGDK0dM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reB4YLs-49U



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