A story of cultural integration, resistance, tradition, and the underground

The foundations of Chicha music are found in huayno and cumbia music. Originating long before colonialism in Peru, huayno was the music of the Peruvian Andes. It “represents a whole musical universe, poetic and symbolic, with more than 500 years of history of transformation, fusion, and assimilation” (Ferrier 2010). Peruvian cultural landscape transformed from the 1950s through the 1980s as people left the mountains and jungle to seek greater economic opportunities in the coastal cities.

Migrants arrived at the capital and other major cities bringing their traditions with them. The cities weren’t able to accommodate the new waves of residents in the 1950s, resulting in unemployment and a lack of proper housing. Through their struggles, the people turned to music to maintain a hold on their identities, regional nostalgia, and resistance to full integration into urban life. El Jilguero del Huascarán with his hits “Verdades que amargan” and “El viajero,” or the bands Flor Pucarina, Pastorita Huaracina, Picaflor de los Andes, etc. are examples of the regional nostalgia expressed in music during this period.

With its roots originating in 1940s Colombia, cumbia music is a hybrid of instruments and rhythms brought by African slaves, music from natives of Northern South America, and the influence of Europeans living in the territory. It quickly permeated and transcended borders among Latin countries and beyond.

In the 1950s, huayno was Peru’s shining star. Cumbia arrived one decade later and quickly gained popularity throughout the country. Large orchestras of Lucho Bermudez and Pacho Galan were some of the first major players in the spread of cumbia. As cumbia evolved to include new instruments like accordions alongside the classic brass, groups like Los Corraleros de Majagual also gained international acclaim. Peruvian artists adopted the sound and melody of cumbia, to reinvent the often melancholic huayno in an upbeat way. Even though cumbia was born in Colombia, it’s reborn every 10 or 15 years in Peru.

Among those rebirths was the rise of Chicha music, named from a corn beverage found in the Peruvian Andes following the popularity of its first great hit, “La Chichera”. Bands mixed elements from huayno into cumbia-predominant rhythms and vice versa. Chicha adopts the melody of cumbia and the vocals and performances of huayno.

According to peruforless.com, “Under the Velasco military government (1968-1975), strong regulations were in place against Anglo/American pop and rock. The guitar-heavy, psychedelic Peruvian cumbia gained popularity as global hits were pushed underground. With the electric guitar as its predominant instrument, chicha became Peru’s own version of rock and roll. In the 1980s, Chicha was the migrants’ anthem, especially for second-generation migrants. This generation found a new way to express their story and identity in the sound and lyrics of Chicha.”