Did anyone say new salsa? Perhaps encouraged by the current boom of cumbia in the global dance scene, a new breed of salseros from all over the continent are begging for equal attention.
Since last year, Colombian rapper/blogger by way of Toronto, Canada, Caballo, has been releasing free-to-download compilations through his Latino Resiste netlabel. Some of the previous comps focused on traditional Afro-Colombian or new Afro-Brazilian, and all of them had that third-world-revolutionary aesthetic paired with really professional-looking presentation (in case, you know, you wanna print the booklet and burn the music onto a CD, for some reason).
Azucah Selectah is his latest release and it includes 25 songs donated by artists from all over the continent and beyond, including some exclusive gems. Salsa is the unifying theme, but not the classic Fania salsa, or the cheesy romantic pop salsa. This is salsa interpreted by contemporary young Latinos influenced by new trends and technologies (from drum-n-bass to mashups and more) and the results will please the hardcore salseros as well as the alternative crowd. To be honest, not all the tracks are great, but with 25 to choose from, you’ll definitely find more than a handful to suit you. My personal favorite? The mashup of The Ramones over a classic boogaloo tune.
SO TO ALL YOU PURIST AND KIND-OF-BUT-NOT-REALLY SALSEROS, DOWNLOAD CABALLO’S AZUCAH SELECTAH HERE.
