I'll admit I don't know much about Panamanian music outside of Rubén Blades, El General and the criminally ignored Los Rabanes. But I haven't been able to get this new-stylee típico remix, "Oiga Morena," outta my head all week.
Squeezytunes (thx for da tip!) calls it "accordion reggaetón." To my ear, it sounds like vallenato processed through some serious machine-generated highhat and snares with hip hop/reggaetón verses laid on top.
Ignore the corniness of the video and just enjoy the song. The remixers are Comando Tiburón, featuring Nenito Vargas on voice (in a singing style that reminds me of Totó la Momposina), and killer accordion courtesy of Los Plumas Negras.
Poking around for more info I also ran into the song below, DJ Black's "Chucha de su madre," which is not as musically compelling, but still has a pegajoso beat and is a great protest song against political corruption, overdevelopment and worsening conditions for the poor. Apparently it was one of the biggest hits in the 2008 Carnaval in Panama.
The video's pretty cool too, with the early-80s looking new-waveish graphics interspersed with street scenes that look like Santo Domingo, like Rio, like Angola.
La cancion de "Chucha su Madre" ta mortal !! jajaj.
For a more roots reggae sound from Panama check out KafuBanton.
el pueblo
P O S I T I V E
Posted by: El pueblo | June 20, 2008 at 10:56 AM
Good to see other people into this too! That Oiga Morena is super dope!
Posted by: Boima Tucker | June 26, 2008 at 05:21 PM
By the way, I heard at the end of the track that Chombo played acordeón. He produced a lot of Jimmy Bad Boy's stuff that is similar and you can download for free over at www.elchombo.com (He also did Papi Chulo.) I think DJ Flecha of Comando Tiburon might be doing it a little too, but now I think it's just in collabo with Chombo.
Posted by: Boima | June 26, 2008 at 05:30 PM
Thanks for the info, Boima. I'm on my way!
Posted by: Caro | June 26, 2008 at 05:45 PM