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Cumbia villera
Cumbia villera
Stylistic origins	Argentine cumbia, Peruvian cumbia
Cultural origins	Late 1990s, Argentina

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Cumbia villera ([ˈkumbja βiˈʎeɾa]) (roughly translated as "slum cumbia", "ghetto cumbia", or "shantytown cumbia") is a subgenre of cumbia music originating in Argentina in the late 1990s and popularized all over Latin America and Latin communities abroad.^[1]

Lyrically, cumbia villera uses the vocabulary of the marginal and lower classes, like the Argentine lunfardo and lenguaje tumbero ("gangster language" or "thug language"), and deals with themes such as the everyday life in the villas miseria (slums), poverty and misery, the use of hard drugs, promiscuity and/or prostitution, nights out at boliches (discos and clubs) that play cumbia and other tropical music genres (such as the emblematic Tropitango venue in Pacheco),^[1] the football culture of the barra bravas, delinquency and clashes with the police and other forms of authority, antipathy towards politicians, and authenticity in being true villeros (inhabitants of the villas).^[1]^[2]

Musically, cumbia villera bases its sound in a heavy use of synthesizers, sound effects, keyboard voices, keytars, electronic drums, and other elements from electric instruments. Cumbia villera's characteristic sound was created using influences from Colombian and Peruvian cumbia, cumbia sonidera and cumbia santafesina in the realm of cumbia, and from reggae, ska, Argentine folklore, and electronic music in other music genres.^[1] Lastly, the creator of cumbia villera, Pablo Lescano, admitted that his lyrics were influenced by bands from Argentine punk rock, like 2 Minutos and Argentine rock rolinga, like Viejas Locas.^[3]^[4] Over time, the genre has evolved, bands and artists have explored different sounds, and new fusions have arisen,^[5] such as cumbia rapera, with Bajo Palabra mixing cumbia villera with hip hop, and tropipunk, with Kumbia Queers mixing cumbia villera with punk.

For its characteristics, cumbia villera has been compared to gangsta rap, reggaeton, rock rolinga, raggamuffin, baile funk, and narcocorrido, among other music genres.^[1]

History

Cumbia villera was born in the late 1990s, amid an economic and social decline in Argentina.^[1]^[6] The introduction of neoliberal economics in Argentina in the early '90s gave a quick boost to the nation's economy but progressively marginalized large areas of society, and by the late '90s, Argentina was in a great depression. Some of the most affected by this crisis were workers and the lower classes, and among them were the inhabitant and dwellers of the villas miseria (slums or shantytowns) in Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area, which favoured cumbia and other tropical music genres.^[1] However, through the '90s, Argentine cumbia bands such as Grupo Sombras or Grupo Green didn't touch social issues, and in fact, their lyrics were limited to themes such as love or partying.^[1]^[7]

It was in this situation that in 1999, the first cumbia villera band was born in the depths of Villa La Esperanza, a slum in San Fernando, Buenos Aires (in the north of the Buenos Aires metropolitan area).^[1]^[8] Pablo Lescano, then keytarist from one of these cumbia bands, Amar Azul, started to pen new songs with more aggressive lyrics. His band rejected them, so he began saving money from the royalties he earned from Amar Azul songs in order to buy instruments and equipment for producing an independent record. He created a new group with a different aesthetic, different lyrics, and a different sound, Flor de Piedra.^[1] In his new project, Lescano limited himself to songwriting and managing. Flor de Piedra released the first cumbia villera album, La Vanda Más Loca, by sending the master to a pirate broadcaster due to lack of interest from major record companies. When the song used as the promotional single and first cumbia villera song, "Vos Sos Un Botón", started to dominate the airwaves, the Leader Music label grew interested in the band.^[1]

The group's records began to receive heavy airplay, and soon the poor, the marginalized, and the unemployed identified with the new musical genre,^[1]^[6] and cumbia villera spread to other large urban settlements, eventually rising to popularity across Argentina.^[1]^[9] By 2000, dozens of cumbia villera bands were playing and recording,^[1] one of which was another Lescano project, Damas Gratis, which he formed after a motorbike accident that cost him his place in Amar Azul.^[1]

Other bands also went beyond the original foundations of Flor de Piedra and started to explore new sounds and themes, borrowing elements from rock (Los Gedes) or classical (Mala Fama), and writing lyrics that were either more socially conscious (Guachín) or radically aggressive (Pibes Chorros). The crisis that exploded in 2001 in Argentina strongly boosted cumbia villera's popularity and solidified it as an Argentinian icon.^[1]^[6]^[10]

It was at this point that some of the best albums in the history of cumbia villera were released, including 100% Villero by Yerba Brava (2001) and Sólo Le Pido A Dios by Pibes Chorros (2002). The genre and its repercussions were widely discussed in the mainstream media,^[1]^[11]^[12] with debates in major newspapers, magazines, TV shows, and radio shows, and the phenomenon even reached television, with Tumberos (2002), and film, with El bonaerense (2002) and El polaquito (2003).

Cumbia villera bands began touring neighbouring countries, North America, and Europe, spreading the genre beyond its original boundaries. This "Argentine invasion" influenced artists in other countries, including Uruguay (La Clave), Paraguay (Los Rebeldes), Bolivia (Diego Soria), Chile (Buena Huacho), and Mexico (Cumbia Zero), which contributed musically to the genre by incorporating different regional styles and influences as well as local vocabulary and slang.

Trends in Argentine cumbia started to change by 2003, owing to the election of president Néstor Kirchner and the subsequent improvement in the nation's economy. Additionally, the Argentine music industry began to pressure bands to stop using controversial lyrics, and censorship from broadcasters and the COMFER reduced cumbia villera's prevalence.^[6]^[13]^[14] Christian advocacy in the villas also contributed to these changes.^[15] Newer cumbia villera bands, such as La Base and El Original, mostly avoided controversial themes and instead sang about love, naming their style cumbia base to avoid some of the stigma that cumbia villera had acquired.

Through the first decade of the 2000s, cumbia villera continued to have a stronghold among workers and poor communities all over Latin America, with new bands forming each year. The biggest names in the genre continued to tour, including Damas Gratis and Pibes Chorros. As late as 2007, 30% of total sales in the Argentine music industry were from cumbia villera records.^[13] However, the genre's predominance and influence in Latin America decreased with the rise of reggaeton in the mid 2000s, and bachata and cumbia wachiturra in the 2010s.^[16]

In the 2010s, promotion of cumbia villera bands by mainstream music publications like Rolling Stone, the organization of concerts at popular venues, and the close collaboration and financial production of cumbia villera bands by mainstream musicians such as Andrés Calamaro, Vicentico, and Fidel Nadal suggested that the genre was alive and well.^[3]^[17]

To this day, cumbia villera remains known as the most aggressive, defiant, and socially conscious style of cumbia ever made.^[1]^[6]^[18]

Circumstances

Ever since the 1930s, there has been a strong migration from the provinces (as well as from neighboring countries like Peru, Paraguay, and Bolivia) to the Greater Buenos Aires area, where factory jobs beckoned. Migrants brought along their culture; the musical mix and the dynamic sounds of big-city life eventually gave birth to new styles. Notably, chamamé from Corrientes was cross-pollinated with Andean music and cuarteto from Córdoba province. Peruvian cumbia bands, such as Los Mirlos, were much in demand in the Buenos Aires suburbs. During the 1970s and 1980s, tropical was used as a catch-all term for this hybrid.

In the 1990s, commercial interests started promoting local cumbia numbers such as Amar Azul and Ráfaga with a more sophisticated image and an emphasis on attracting wider audiences. Traditional cumbia lovers looked for "authentic" acts, and many bands obliged by settling on a square cumbia beat and writing lyrics that delved ever deeper into themes of crime and drug abuse. A pioneering act was Pibes Chorros. Other bands in this vein include Yerba Brava and Damas Gratis.

The pauperization of vast segments of the population due to the economic slowdown that started in 1998 enlarged the social substrate that sustained 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 Tevez, proclaimed their allegiance. When his schedule allows, Tevez is lead singer for Piola Vago.

Cumbia villera may be musically related to other local cumbia scenes, such as Mexican cumbia sonidera and chicha, from Peru.

Parallels

Whilst traditional cumbia dancing bands often use a full brass section, cumbia villera recordings are often made at the lowest possible expense. As this usually entails the use of synthesizers, Argentine cumbia can be described, like Algerian raï, Romanian manele or Brazilian baile funk, as a "low-fidelity, high-tech" genre.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ""El ritmo de la villa", Rolling Stone". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
^ "“No me pidas que deje de robar...”", Los Andes Archived 22 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^ ^a ^b "Nunca vi una vecina tan amarga como vos", La Opinión Semanario
^ "Extrañas relaciones", La Mañana Neuquén
^ ""Conocé a Fantasma", Rolling Stone Argentina". Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e “La cumbia villera es una gran ventana para ver cómo se procesa la desigualdad”, Clarín
^ "El juicio del medio pelo", Los Andes Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^ ""Canciones entre La Horqueta y La Cava", Clarín". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
^ "Qué hay detrás de la cumbia villera", Los Andes Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^ ""Contra la pared", La Nación". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
^ "Códigos de la cumbia villera", Clarín
^ "CUMBIA VILLERA ¿FENÓMENO POPULAR? MÚSICA MADE IN LA VILLA", Periódico Tribuna
^ ^a ^b ""Cumbia villera para los pibes", La Dinamo". Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
^ “La cumbia nos dice mucho de la realidad social”, Página 12
^ "Cuando me muera quiero que me toquen cumbia", Martha Bardaro. Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
^ "La cumbia se reinventa en Argentina con enfoque social", El Tiempo (Colombia)
^ ""Damas Gratis cierra el año", Rolling Stone Argentina". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
^ "100% negro cumbiero. Una aproximación al proceso de construcción de las identidades entre los jóvenes urbano marginales." Lic. Fabián C. Flores, Lic. Adrián W. Outeda - Universidad Nacional de Luján, Argentina. Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine

External links

[rollingstone-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ""El ritmo de la villa", Rolling Stone". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2017.

[2] "“No me pidas que deje de robar...”", Los Andes Archived 22 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine

[amarga-3] "Nunca vi una vecina tan amarga como vos", La Opinión Semanario

[4] "Extrañas relaciones", La Mañana Neuquén

[5] ""Conocé a Fantasma", Rolling Stone Argentina". Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2017.

[ventana-6] “La cumbia villera es una gran ventana para ver cómo se procesa la desigualdad”, Clarín

[7] "El juicio del medio pelo", Los Andes Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine

[8] ""Canciones entre La Horqueta y La Cava", Clarín". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.

[9] "Qué hay detrás de la cumbia villera", Los Andes Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine

[10] ""Contra la pared", La Nación". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2015.

[11] "Códigos de la cumbia villera", Clarín

[12] "CUMBIA VILLERA ¿FENÓMENO POPULAR? MÚSICA MADE IN LA VILLA", Periódico Tribuna

[ladinamo-13] ""Cumbia villera para los pibes", La Dinamo". Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2015.

[14] “La cumbia nos dice mucho de la realidad social”, Página 12

[15] "Cuando me muera quiero que me toquen cumbia", Martha Bardaro. Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine

[16] "La cumbia se reinventa en Argentina con enfoque social", El Tiempo (Colombia)

[17] ""Damas Gratis cierra el año", Rolling Stone Argentina". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2017.

[18] "100% negro cumbiero. Una aproximación al proceso de construcción de las identidades entre los jóvenes urbano marginales." Lic. Fabián C. Flores, Lic. Adrián W. Outeda - Universidad Nacional de Luján, Argentina. Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine

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+{{Short description|Subgenre of cumbia music from Argentina}}
-'''Cumbia villera''' ("shantytown cumbia", {{IPA-es|ˈkumbja βiˈʒeɾa|local}} or {{IPA-es|ˈkumbja βiˈʃeɾa|}}) is a typically [[Argentina|Argentine]] form of [[cumbia]] music born in the ''[[villas miseria]]'' ([[shantytown]]s) around [[Buenos Aires]] and then popularized in other large urban settlements. It is derived musically from [[Cumbia sonidera]] and Chicha Cumbia.
+{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
+{{Infobox music genre
+| name              = Cumbia villera
+| stylistic_origins = [[Argentine cumbia]], [[Peruvian cumbia]]
+| cultural_origins  = Late 1990s, Argentina
+}}
+'''Cumbia villera''' ({{IPA|es|ˈkumbja βiˈʎeɾa|}}) (roughly translated as "[[slum]] cumbia", "[[ghetto]] cumbia", or "[[shantytown]] cumbia") is a subgenre of [[cumbia]] music originating in [[Argentina]] in the late 1990s and popularized all over [[Latin America]] and Latin communities abroad.<ref name="rollingstone">{{Cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com.ar/583428 |title="El ritmo de la villa", Rolling Stone |access-date=3 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924121544/http://www.rollingstone.com.ar/583428 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
-==Origins==
-[[File:Tropicalisima 025.jpg|thumb|right|250px|La Base Norteña 2004.]]
-Ever since the 1930s there has been a strong [[human migration|migration]] from the [[Provinces of Argentina|provinces]] (as well as from neighboring countries like [[Uruguay]], [[Paraguay]] and [[Bolivia]]) to the [[Greater Buenos Aires]] area, with migrants bringing along their dance styles. The musical mix and the dynamics sounds  of big-city life eventually gave birth to new styles. Notably, [[chamamé]] from [[Corrientes Province|Corrientes]] was cross-pollinated with [[Andes|Andean]] music and [[cuarteto]] from [[Córdoba, Argentina|Córdoba province]]. During the 1970s and 1980s, ''tropical'' was used as a catch-all term for this hybrid.
+Lyrically, cumbia villera uses the vocabulary of the marginal and lower classes, like the Argentine ''[[lunfardo]]'' and ''lenguaje tumbero'' ("gangster language" or "thug language"), and deals with themes such as the everyday life in the ''[[villas miseria]]'' (slums), poverty and misery, the use of hard drugs, promiscuity and/or prostitution, nights out at ''boliches'' (discos and clubs) that play cumbia and other tropical music genres (such as the emblematic ''Tropitango'' venue in [[General Pacheco|Pacheco]]),<ref name="rollingstone" /> the [[Association football|football]] culture of the [[barra brava]]s, delinquency and clashes with the police and other forms of authority, antipathy towards politicians, and authenticity in being true ''villeros'' (inhabitants of the ''villas'').<ref name="rollingstone" /><ref>[http://archivo.losandes.com.ar/notas/2001/8/5/sociedad-266676.asp "“No me pidas que deje de robar...”", Los Andes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722071203/http://archivo.losandes.com.ar/notas/2001/8/5/sociedad-266676.asp |date=22 July 2015 }}</ref>
-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, and 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"), widely acknowledged as the genre's leading act, that was started by former Amar Azul's keyboardist [[Pablo Lescano]] after a serious car accident made him reconsider the message he wanted to convey through music.
+Musically, cumbia villera bases its sound in a heavy use of [[synthesizer]]s, sound effects, keyboard voices, [[keytar]]s, [[electronic drum]]s, and other elements from [[electric instrument]]s. Cumbia villera's characteristic sound was created using influences from [[Colombia]]n and [[Peruvian cumbia]], ''cumbia sonidera'' and ''cumbia [[Santa Fe Province|santafesina]]'' in the realm of cumbia, and from [[reggae]], [[ska]], [[Argentine folklore]], and [[electronic music]] in other music genres.<ref name="rollingstone" /> Lastly, the creator of cumbia villera, [[Pablo Lescano]], admitted that his lyrics were influenced by bands from Argentine [[punk rock]], like [[2 Minutos]] and Argentine rock [[rolinga]], like [[Viejas Locas]].<ref name="amarga">[http://www.laopinionsemanario.com.ar/noticia/nunca-vi-una-vecina-tan-amarga-como-vos-29854 "Nunca vi una vecina tan amarga como vos", La Opinión Semanario]</ref><ref>[http://www.lmneuquen.com.ar/noticias/2012/7/7/extranas-relaciones_153926 "Extrañas relaciones", La Mañana Neuquén]</ref> Over time, the genre has evolved, bands and artists have explored different sounds, and new fusions have arisen,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com.ar/1276330 |title="Conocé a Fantasma", Rolling Stone Argentina |access-date=3 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006091135/http://www.rollingstone.com.ar/1276330 |archive-date=6 October 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> such as [[cumbia rapera]], with [[Bajo Palabra]] mixing cumbia villera with [[hip hop]], and [[tropipunk]], with [[Kumbia Queers]] mixing cumbia villera with [[punk rock|punk]].
-The [[poverty|pauperization]] of vast segments of the population due to the [[Argentine economic crisis|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 (soccer)|football]] stars from the shantytowns, such as [[Carlos Tévez]], proclaimed their allegiance. When his schedule allows, Tévez is lead singer for [[Piola Vago]] (loose translation: "savvy bum").
+For its characteristics, cumbia villera has been compared to [[gangsta rap]], [[reggaeton]], rock rolinga, [[ragga]]muffin, [[baile funk]], and [[narcocorrido]], among other music genres.<ref name="rollingstone" />
-The most famous leader of these wide and glorious social and political movement that works to bring out of the shadows the rich popular culture of large sectors of the population is Fabio Vicentini, who fights against social injustice and also against the academic map that runs the School of Sciences of the [[Universidad of Buenos Aires]].
-==Present outlook==
+==History==
+Cumbia villera was born in the late 1990s, amid an economic and social decline in Argentina.<ref name="rollingstone" /><ref name="ventana">[http://www.clarin.com/zona/cumbia-villera-ventana-procesa-desigualdad_0_653334854.html “La cumbia villera es una gran ventana para ver cómo se procesa la desigualdad”, Clarín]</ref> The introduction of [[neoliberal]] economics in Argentina in the early '90s gave a quick boost to the nation's economy but progressively marginalized large areas of society, and by the late '90s, Argentina was in a [[1998–2002 Argentine great depression|great depression]]. Some of the most affected by this crisis were workers and the lower classes, and among them were the inhabitant and dwellers of the ''[[villas miseria]]'' ([[slum]]s or [[shantytown]]s) in [[Buenos Aires]] and its metropolitan area, which favoured [[cumbia]] and other tropical music genres.<ref name="rollingstone" /> However, through the '90s, Argentine cumbia bands such as [[Grupo Sombras]] or [[Grupo Green]] didn't touch social issues, and in fact, their lyrics were limited to themes such as love or partying.<ref name="rollingstone" /><ref>[http://archivo.losandes.com.ar/notas/2001/8/5/sociedad-266675.asp "El juicio del medio pelo", Los Andes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402153931/http://archivo.losandes.com.ar/notas/2001/8/5/sociedad-266675.asp |date=2 April 2015 }}</ref>
-Some radio and TV shows had incorporated ''cumbia villera'' into their offerings, notably on weekend ''omnibus'' variety shows, where music runs the gamut from [[folklore]] to ''tropical''; even though the more provocative lyrics were seldom broadcast.
+It was in this situation that in 1999, the first cumbia villera band was born in the depths of Villa La Esperanza, a slum in [[San Fernando, Buenos Aires]] (in the north of the Buenos Aires metropolitan area).<ref name="rollingstone" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://edant.clarin.com/suplementos/zona/2001/02/11/z-00315.htm |title="Canciones entre La Horqueta y La Cava", Clarín |access-date=17 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402092813/http://edant.clarin.com/suplementos/zona/2001/02/11/z-00315.htm |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Pablo Lescano]], then [[keytar]]ist from one of these cumbia bands, [[Amar Azul]], started to pen new songs with more aggressive lyrics. His band rejected them, so he began saving money from the royalties he earned from Amar Azul songs in order to buy instruments and equipment for producing an independent record. He created a new group with a different aesthetic, different lyrics, and a different sound, [[Flor de Piedra]].<ref name="rollingstone" /> In his new project, Lescano limited himself to songwriting and managing. Flor de Piedra released the first cumbia villera album, ''La Vanda Más Loca'',  by sending the [[Audio mastering|master]] to a ''pirate'' broadcaster due to lack of interest from major record companies. When the song used as the promotional single and first cumbia villera song, "Vos Sos Un Botón", started to dominate the airwaves, the [[Leader Music]] label grew interested in the band.<ref name="rollingstone" />
-In recent years, due to pressure from broadcasters and (allegedly) influence from [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical]] preachers active in the shantytowns, some bands have shifted back to [[love song]]s instead.
+The group's records began to receive heavy airplay, and soon the poor, the marginalized, and the unemployed identified with the new musical genre,<ref name="rollingstone" /><ref name="ventana" /> and cumbia villera spread to other large urban settlements, eventually rising to popularity across Argentina.<ref name="rollingstone" /><ref>[http://archivo.losandes.com.ar/notas/2001/8/5/sociedad-19057.asp "Qué hay detrás de la cumbia villera", Los Andes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402103730/http://archivo.losandes.com.ar/notas/2001/8/5/sociedad-19057.asp |date=2 April 2015 }}</ref> By 2000, dozens of cumbia villera bands were playing and recording,<ref name="rollingstone" /> one of which was another Lescano project, [[Damas Gratis]], which he formed after a motorbike accident that cost him his place in Amar Azul.<ref name="rollingstone" />
-==Influences and parallels==
+Other bands also went beyond the original foundations of Flor de Piedra and started to explore new sounds and themes, borrowing elements from [[rock music|rock]] ([[Los Gedes]]) or [[classical music|classical]] ([[Mala Fama]]), and writing lyrics that were either more socially conscious ([[Guachín]]) or radically aggressive ([[Pibes Chorros]]). The crisis that exploded in 2001 in Argentina strongly boosted cumbia villera's popularity and solidified it as an Argentinian icon.<ref name="rollingstone" /><ref name="ventana" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/435096-contra-la-pared |title="Contra la pared", La Nación |access-date=17 March 2015 |archive-date=22 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222062006/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/435096-contra-la-pared |url-status=dead }}</ref>
-Whilst the arrangements of [[Colombia]]n or Bolivian cumbia can be quite complex (even traditionalists like [[Pastor López]] use a full [[brass instrument|brass]] section), cumbia villera recordings are often made at the lowest possible expense. As this invariably entails the use of [[synthesizer]]s, Argentine cumbia can be described, like [[Algeria]]n [[raï]], as a "low fidelity, high tech" genre.
+It was at this point that some of the best albums in the history of cumbia villera were released, including ''100% Villero'' by [[Yerba Brava]] (2001) and ''Sólo Le Pido A Dios'' by [[Pibes Chorros]] (2002). The genre and its repercussions were widely discussed in the mainstream media,<ref name="rollingstone" /><ref>[http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2004/01/28/o-02301.htm "Códigos de la cumbia villera", Clarín]</ref><ref>[http://periodicotribuna.com.ar/2260-cumbia-villera-fenomeno-popular.html "CUMBIA VILLERA ¿FENÓMENO POPULAR? MÚSICA MADE IN LA VILLA", Periódico Tribuna]</ref> with debates in major newspapers, magazines, TV shows, and radio shows, and the phenomenon even reached television, with ''[[Tumberos]]'' (2002), and film, with ''[[El bonaerense]]'' (2002) and ''[[El polaquito]]'' (2003).
-Other than raï, cumbia villera also has obvious parallels with [[gangsta rap]] in the United States, the rhythms of the [[favela]]s of [[Rio de Janeiro]], like ''baile funk'', 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]].
+Cumbia villera bands began touring neighbouring countries, North America, and Europe, spreading the genre beyond its original boundaries. This "Argentine invasion" influenced artists in other countries, including Uruguay ([[La Clave]]), Paraguay ([[Los Rebeldes]]), Bolivia ([[Diego Soria]]), Chile ([[Buena Huacho]]), and Mexico ([[Cumbia Zero]]), which contributed musically to the genre by incorporating different regional styles and influences as well as local vocabulary and [[slang]].
+Trends in Argentine cumbia started to change by 2003, owing to the election of president [[Néstor Kirchner]] and the subsequent improvement in the nation's economy. Additionally, the Argentine music industry began to pressure bands to stop using controversial lyrics, and censorship from broadcasters and the [[COMFER]] reduced cumbia villera's prevalence.<ref name="ventana" /><ref name="ladinamo">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ladinamo.org/ldnm/articulo.php?numero=29&id=738 |title="Cumbia villera para los pibes", La Dinamo |access-date=4 September 2015 |archive-date=12 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312040420/http://ladinamo.org/ldnm/articulo.php?id=738&numero=29 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/dialogos/21-197149-2012-06-25.html “La cumbia nos dice mucho de la realidad social”, Página 12]</ref> Christian advocacy in the ''villas'' also contributed to these changes.<ref>[http://www.marthabardaro.com/prologos/Cuando%20me%20muera%20quiero%20que%20me%20toquen%20cumbia.pdf "Cuando me muera quiero que me toquen cumbia", Martha Bardaro.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025230/http://www.marthabardaro.com/prologos/Cuando%20me%20muera%20quiero%20que%20me%20toquen%20cumbia.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }}</ref> Newer cumbia villera bands, such as [[La Base]] and El Original, mostly avoided controversial themes and instead sang about love, naming their style ''cumbia base'' to avoid some of the stigma that cumbia villera had acquired.
+Through the first decade of the 2000s, cumbia villera continued to have a stronghold among workers and poor communities all over Latin America, with new bands forming each year. The biggest names in the genre continued to tour, including Damas Gratis and Pibes Chorros. As late as 2007, 30% of total sales in the Argentine music industry were from cumbia villera records.<ref name="ladinamo" /> However, the genre's predominance and influence in Latin America decreased with the rise of [[reggaeton]] in the mid 2000s, and [[bachata (music)|bachata]] and ''cumbia [[Wachiturros|wachiturra]]'' in the 2010s.<ref>[http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-12623048 "La cumbia se reinventa en Argentina con enfoque social", El Tiempo (Colombia)]</ref>
+In the 2010s, promotion of cumbia villera bands by mainstream music publications like ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', the organization of concerts at popular venues, and the close collaboration and financial production of cumbia villera bands by mainstream musicians such as [[Andrés Calamaro]], [[Vicentico]], and [[Fidel Nadal]] suggested that the genre was alive and well.<ref name="amarga" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com.ar/1335733 |title="Damas Gratis cierra el año", Rolling Stone Argentina |access-date=3 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924092115/http://www.rollingstone.com.ar/1335733 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
+To this day, cumbia villera remains known as the most aggressive, defiant, and socially conscious style of cumbia ever made.<ref name="rollingstone" /><ref name="ventana" /><ref>[http://www.naya.org.ar/congreso2002/ponencias/fabian_flores_adrian_outeda.htm "100% negro cumbiero. Una aproximación al proceso de construcción de las identidades entre los jóvenes urbano marginales." Lic. Fabián C. Flores, Lic. Adrián W. Outeda - Universidad Nacional de Luján, Argentina.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402124738/http://www.naya.org.ar/congreso2002/ponencias/fabian_flores_adrian_outeda.htm |date=2 April 2015 }}</ref>
+==Circumstances==
+{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2022}}
+Ever since the 1930s, there has been a strong [[human migration|migration]] from the [[Provinces of Argentina|provinces]] (as well as from neighboring countries like Peru, Paraguay, and Bolivia) to the [[Greater Buenos Aires]] area, where factory jobs beckoned. Migrants brought along their culture; the musical mix and the dynamic sounds of big-city life eventually gave birth to new styles. Notably, [[chamamé]] from [[Corrientes Province|Corrientes]] was cross-pollinated with [[Andes|Andean]] music and [[cuarteto]] from [[Córdoba, Argentina|Córdoba province]]. Peruvian cumbia bands, such as [[Los Mirlos]], were much in demand in the Buenos Aires suburbs. During the 1970s and 1980s, ''tropical'' was used as a catch-all term for this hybrid.
+In the 1990s, commercial interests started promoting local cumbia numbers such as Amar Azul and [[Ráfaga]] with a more sophisticated image and an emphasis on attracting wider audiences. Traditional cumbia lovers looked for "authentic" acts, and many bands obliged by settling on a square cumbia beat and writing lyrics that delved ever deeper into themes of crime and drug abuse. A pioneering act was Pibes Chorros. Other bands in this vein include Yerba Brava and Damas Gratis.
+The [[poverty|pauperization]] of vast segments of the population due to the [[1998–2002 Argentine great depression|economic slowdown]] that started in 1998 enlarged the social substrate that sustained 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 Tevez]], proclaimed their allegiance. When his schedule allows, Tevez is lead singer for [[Piola Vago]].
+Cumbia villera may be musically related to other local cumbia scenes, such as Mexican cumbia sonidera and [[Peruvian cumbia|chicha]], from Peru.
+==Parallels==
+{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2022}}
+Whilst traditional cumbia dancing bands often use a full [[brass instrument|brass]] section, cumbia villera recordings are often made at the lowest possible expense. As this usually entails the use of [[synthesizer]]s, Argentine cumbia can be described, like Algerian [[raï]], Romanian [[manele]] or Brazilian [[baile funk]], as a "low-fidelity, high-tech" genre.
+==References==
+{{Reflist}}
 ==External links==
+* [https://archive.today/20130117034735/http://www.arte-tv.com/de/kunst-musik/tracks/Sendung_20vom_2021._20Februar_202003/391712,CmC=391720.html Backstage (German)]
-* [http://www.gratisdamas.com.ar Damas Gratis]
+* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050906172906/http://www.arte-tv.com/fr/art-musique/tracks/Emission_20du_2021_20f_C3_A9vrier_202003/391712%2CCmC%3D391720.html Backstage (French)]
-* [http://www.muevamueva.com MuevaMueva Spanish language portal]
+* https://web.archive.org/web/20110430082240/http://cumbiadenegros.net/
-* [http://www.arte-tv.com/de/kunst-musik/tracks/Sendung_20vom_2021._20Februar_202003/391712,CmC=391720.html Backstage (German)]
-* [http://www.arte-tv.com/fr/art-musique/tracks/Emission_20du_2021_20f_C3_A9vrier_202003/391712,CmC=391720.html Backstage (French)]
+{{Cumbia}}
-* [http://elortiba.galeon.com/cumbiavi.html Sociological analysis (Spanish)]
+{{Music in Spanish}}
-*http://www.cumbiadenegros.net/
-{{Music in spanish}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cumbia Villera}}
-[[Category:Argentine music]]
+[[Category:Music of Argentina]]
 [[Category:Argentine styles of music]]
 [[Category:Cumbia music genres]]
+[[Category:Argentine dances]]
+[[Category:Dance in Argentina]]
-[[de:Cumbia Villera]]
+[[Category:Squatting in Argentina]]
-[[es:Cumbia villera]]
+[[Category:2000s in Latin music]]
-[[pt:Cumbia villera]]
+[[Category:2010s in Latin music]]
-[[sv:Cumbia villera]]
+[[Category:2020s in Latin music]]