RPP Notícias spoke with three Andean fusion critics like Melina Warthon, Wendy Solka and Renata Flores to address a musical proposal destined to conquer the world beyond its borders.
Melina Warthon’s victory in Viña del Mar 2023 set the eyes of Latin Americans on a trend that has been gaining new fans in Peru for several years: the fusion of Andean music with more urban aesthetics such as pop, rap and electronica, among others. Not that it’s a pioneering bet, since experts like Raúl R. Romero or Fiorella Montero Díaz have warned about the raw nature of the sounds that come from the Andes. However, Quinta Vergara’s “Warmisitay” exhibition raised conflicting attitudes.
On the one hand, there was no lack of visionaries on social networks who saw in his song the end of traditional Andean rhythms and, on the other hand, voices that called for the integration of an indigenous current with a more modern one. However, Warthon herself is clearer than her critics. “We are in a moment of increasing gender ambiguity,” he told RPP Notícias. He added, “Actually, what we think of as traditional music from the Andes is music with instruments or elements already incorporated.”
He cited 22-year-old singer William Luna as an example, as his singles are “made of keyboards, bass and drums, instruments that are not Andean”. The author of “La nena” and “Maravilloso” said: “My music, more than regenerating something, informs the world and offers my vision of how, according to my reality, I celebrate my culture.” “In ten years, probably the reality will be different and the music will sound different. It’s not about giving something new to Andean music, the culture is dynamic and everything changes over time.”
Wendy Solka: “We all win”
If there’s a recent generation that pioneered fusing urban music with the sounds of the Andes, it’s definitely Wendy Solka. She was perhaps the first to capitalize on music platforms – remember how “La tetita”, “Cerveza, Cerveza” and “Papito” became viral YouTube phenomena – and also one of the boldest voices redeeming her assets on the scene. musical. More and more changing.
For her, the fact that Andean music dialogues with commercial beats allows it “to prevail today with more force, so that our roots are not lost and that other generations feel proud of what is ours”. We are all winning so that more people here and abroad get to know Peru and its beautiful culture”, said the singer of songs like “If You Wanna Be Mine” and “I Wanna Be Mine”.
“For my part, I feel I did my homework, as I was one of the first to fuse current rhythms like urban, ballad and pop with the sounds of the Andes. Arriving at my sound was not easy, but the idea is that more people can identify with our music.” And our ancestors spread it around the world”, considers Wendy Solka. His appearance in Times Square, in New York (USA), where the cover of the playlist “Equal Andes” on Spotify speaks for itself.
Renata Flores: “Our roots are our motivation”
More than ignoring their past, the new generation of Andean artists strives to make their place in the world visible without ignoring influences that come from abroad. “We are in this generation where we want to come out stronger, and our roots and our culture are the motivation we have”, said rapper Renata Flores, whose proposal was soon evaluated internationally. In 2022, for example, Forbes magazine named her among the 50 most powerful women in Peru.
Unlike other exponents who took the initiative to fuse Andean sounds with genres such as pop or reggaeton, Flores, Wendy Solca or Melina Warthon come from families native to the Peruvian Andes, which allows them to escape the label of “cultural appropriation”, he said. The 21-year-old singer, originally from Huamanga, says: “You can mix and sing different genres, but I think that for us to feel complete, yes or yes, our roots have to be there.”
“There are many people who do not want to assimilate, that there is only Andean indigenous music, and yes, it is the norm, it should not be lost, but I feel that with time there will be more young people from the next generations who will see it from a different perspective, without leaving the that our ancestors passed on to us”, said Renata Flores. His generation, specifically, started to follow this path, with huayno or carnaval being equally valued as a song by BTS and Harry Styles.
