|
|
|
 Entertainment | January 2008 
"Los Zeros" Style is Eclectic
 Ed Morales - NewsDay
go to original
 |  | A new roots movement is also one of Los Zeros' strongest trends. |  | |
It's getting late in the decade, and we don't even have a proper name for it. There is a strong sense of how we think of pop music history in terms of "the '70s," "the '80s," and even "the '90s," and Latin music has its parallel moments - think the Fania All-Stars, Julio Iglesias, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Juan Luis Guerra, the Buena Vista Social Club and, finally, Daddy Yankee. It's time we locate contemporary Latin music trends in something called "Los Zeros."
What characterizes the era of Los Zeros? One trend, urban pop, has its roots in the '90s, when rap and dancehall en Español laid the groundwork for reggaetón. The influence of '70s and '80s styles such as reggae and post-disco R&B crept gradually into Latin music until a new hybrid of polyrhythmic Caribbean beats and slow-jam aesthetics created the urban pop sound. Now, what once seemed separate genres - hard-core reggaetón, romantic pop, salsa, merengue, cumbia and bachata - are all part of a new fusion.
Artists once pigeonholed as underground rappers are now international pop musicians, and the likes of Shakira, Alejandro Sanz, Andy Montañez and Julieta Venegas are all collaborating with urban fusionistas. The super-twangy guitar and hopping dance that helped bachata burst onto the scene has also been co-opted into a funky teen pop where New York-based crooners turn up the guitar amps and ride the electric wave of a Dominican Invasion.
A new roots movement is also one of Los Zeros' strongest trends. Puerto Rican bomba and plena acts are multiplying rapidly, pioneered by bands like Yerba Buena, Los Pleneros del 21 and Viento de Agua. Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, a Colombian roots band steeped in the ancient arts of puya, bullarengue, gaita and cumbia, won a Latin Grammy this year and groups like La Cumbiamba Eneyé are the rage of Jackson Heights and beyond. Zon del Barrio revives Rafael Cortijo's brand of soulful bomba and plena alongside a healthy dose of old-school salsa, which is in turn fueled by the reissue of the Fania Records catalog, some local bands that never gave up the old school and intrepid DJs.
One scary trend to report on of late is the string of murders afflicting the Mexican regional scene. Sergio Gómez, founder and lead singer of the band K-Paz de la Sierra, was beaten, tortured and killed Dec. 2 after a performance in Michoacán; last month José Luis Aquino, a trumpet player with Los Conde, was beaten to death in Oaxaca; and Zayda Peña, singer for Zayda y los Culpables, was shot in a motel room in Matamoros. Singer Valentín Elizalde was killed in 2006.
The shadowy world of narco trafficking is blamed for the deaths of these "grupero" singers, but the killings symbolize the state of lawlessness and desperation that is symptomatic of northern Mexico. The cruel reality of corruption and human exploitation in the border region make the "gangsta" drama of some urban and reggaetón artists seem like empty boasting. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us