ChocQuibTown

Setting out to mix traditional Afro-Colombian music with hip-hop, Latin and funk sounds, ChocQuibTown are a trailblazing hip-hop group who celebrate the culture of their forefathers to deliver electric carnival sounds.

Brother and sister Miguel 'Slow' Martinez and Gloria 'Goyo' Martinez grew up in a musical family in the coastal region of Choco, West Colombia but moved around the country and Goyo began performing in hip-hop clubs whilst studying at university in Cali. Old childhood friend Carlos 'Tostao' Valencia joined the siblings to create ChocQuibTown (named after their hometown of Quibdo in Choco) in 2000 and the trio modelled themselves on hip-hop groups like The Fugees and The Roots, local artist Joe Arroyo and '90s salsa orchestra Grupo Niche.

Proudly representing the rhythms and cultural traditions of the poor, underdeveloped Pacific region of the country, they built their reputation on Bogota's lively music scene before winning a festival prize that allowed them to independently record their debut album 'Somos Pacifico' in 2006. Addressing social issues in their lyrics and splicing together authentic bambuco and guabina rhythms with upbeat, soulful raps, the trio went on to release follow-up 'Oro' in 2010 and toured the world's leading festivals, including Glastonbury, Roskilde and South By South West. Tostao and Goyo married the following year, and the band won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Alternative Song for 'De Donde Vengo Yo' before their third album 'Eso Es Lo Que Hay' (2012) was released through Sony Music, featuring Nicaraguan singer Luis Enrique and rapper Tego Calderon. The band continued to rap about the rural shanty towns and the culture from which they'd come and earned comparisons with the Black Eyed Peas when fourth album 'El Mismo' (2015) reached number five in the Billboard Latin Rhythm Charts. They released their fifth album, 'Sin Miedo', in 2018.