Afropop Worldwide

The land is not bought or sold,
My land is to share,
The earth wakes up, approaches
and yells in my ear,
That it can’t take it anymore
Tired but dead to laughter,
Takes my hand and invites me,
…to dance.

In recognition of Earth Day, we highlight a song that might leave your heart bleeding on the dance floor. Bomba Estéreo’s new single,“ Tierra,” off the album Deja (Sony, 2021), continues the spiritual quest of this electronic Colombian fusion band to save the planet one song at a time. Exploring ritual and the elements of the earth: Agua (Water), Aire (Air), Tierra (Earth), and Fuego (Fire), Bomba Estéreo shares a potpourri of alternative rap, reggae, reggaetón and other African inspired genres, culminating in a song deftly mixed by Damian Taylor.

The third installment of releases from the album, “Tierra” features the haunting vocals of lead singer Liliana, “Li” Saumet, whose range of genres brings the group back to its roots of socially conscious dance music. Who knew there was even such a thing as socially conscious music, but in a statement, Saumet says, “the album is about the connection and disconnection of human beings — from the planet, from one’s own self. It’s about how we’re… more connected to electronic devices and virtual things than real things. So we decided to use the four elements [as an organizing principle for the album], because they’re part of the equilibrium of human beings.” “Tierra” manages to juxtapose the unimaginable profanity of the relentless destruction of the earth, with a sacred polyrhythm-laced beat, driven by the haunting subliminal marimba.

The collaboration of Lukas Avendaño, a non-binary Zapotec indigenous performance artist, adds a sense of ancient cultural memory to the song, creating a visual language and aesthetic that is pre-Colombian, devoid of the separation of things that came with the colonial-constructed world 500 years in the making. The video for “Tierra” is stunningly directed by choreographer Fana Adjani, and shares a fleeting memory of our connection to the earth in a primeval past. There is a profound intimacy that the video brings to the song, as Liliana and Lukas, the protagonists of the nostalgic tale, dance suspended in time and place, devoid of race, class and gender. Founding member Simon Mejia, in the press release, adds “The earth should belong to everyone, as we belong to her, independent of race, identity or nationality.” Steeped in ritual drama, the video emphasizes ideas of plurality, interconnectedness, and muxiedad—the Zapotec belief in a third gender — through montage editing that cuts between the element of the earth with the bodies of Saumet and Lukas. “Tierra” brings the sacred back into dance music, bringing us back into dance for the purpose of trance as a medium of communication with the earth.

Our world has shifted and continues to shift, revealing our ugly shadows, dirty hands and footprints of destruction. Yet this song urges us to continue the dance, continue to be connected through the dance, imploring us to change the rabid mindless consumption of everything in our lives. All of the non-industrialized indigenous world’s ancient forests and wetlands are being destroyed for the fleeting illusion of progress. As we acknowledge Mother Nature on this day, stripped by man and refashioned with sugar coated packaging of paper that was once a tree, or plastic derived from her sacred animals, we must resist the hedonistic orgy with those things that belong to her and instead just dance with her.

Not since Marvin Gaye’s, “Ecology,” has there been a song about Mother Earth that touches my soul like Bomba Estéreo's “Tierra” … and makes me want to dance.

UPCOMING TOUR DATES
May 14 - Akamba Festival - Jalisco, Mexico
July 8 - Bilbao BBK Live - Bilbao, Spain
July 10 - Somerset House - London, UK
Aug. 21 - Lets Get Free Festival - New York, NY
Sept. 2 - Cala Mijas - Mijas, Spain
Oct. 2 - Ohana Festival - Dana Point, CA

MORE SHOWS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BOMBA ESTEREO, PLEASE VISIT:
http://www.instagram.com/bomba...
http://www.youtube.com/bombaes...
http://www.facebook.com/bombae...
http://www.twitter.com/bombaes...