Hailing from Palenque, the first free black town in the Americas, Hip hop group Kombilesa Mi is inspiring a whole new generation to love hip hop, love being black, and to rap in Palenquero, the language of their ancestors. Kombilesa Mi is a unique ensemble-preserving their cultural heritage while creating original hip hop music. Much in the vain of hip hop culture in the USA, Kombilesa Mi has created a strong identity and community, using hip hop to teach their native palenquero language and cultural heritage.
Kombilesa Mi's connection, awareness, and joy of their African roots is infectious and incredibly important to claim in Colombian culture and in the diaspora. Colombia has the second highest percentage of African descendants after Brazil in Latin America. In the United States there is a growing Afro-Latino movement and serves to educate, uplift and to bridge communities. The band’s presence is incredibly eye opening and important in a time of increased violence, ignorance and loss of languages.
Weaving in call and response, dance, and traditional Afro-Colombian rhythms, Kombilesa Mi engages the audience in a high energy and interactive performance.
“When I feel something, the first thing that I do is think about music. Music is a universal way to express all our feelings.“
— Jose Valdes Torres, member of Kombilesa Mi
“When I entered I was blown away by the energy and the rhythms of resistance of this group. Lead by Afro Neto, their music combines the sounds of hip hop with Afro-Colombian roots. The new genre is called RFP, which stands for Rap Folklorico Palenquero. There is no doubt to me that this new generation of Palenquero musicians have a very distinctive vision and voice of their own.”
— National Geographics
