Ghetto Kumbé

What happens when three Colombian musicians with a soft spot for West African rhythms meet? In the case of Ghetto Kumbé, at any rate, something conceivably refreshing for the Bogota music scene. With their Rumba digital sound, which is driven by powerful drums, Caribbean house beats and traditional cumbia, they have launched an acoustic counter-movement to the otherwise rather poppy folktronica of their homeland Colombia, characterised by a chorus, a verse and three-and-a-half-minute songs. With Ghetto Kumbé, the vocals are pushed into the background in favour of the dominant percussion. Kassa and makru from the rich musical tradition of West Africa meet Afro-Colombian rhythms, from bullerengue to champeta.