Sarah Balistreri on the Culture of Music in Chile

By: Sarah Balistreri

December 21, 2010

As my days in Valparaíso begin to wind to a close, I decided to take a walk the other day down Avenida Alemania, a street that lets one see all of the wonders of Valpo as it twists and turns from the Chilean poet and communist Pablo Neruda’'s house on Cerro Bellavista to Plazuela San Luís at the top of Cerro Alegre, so that I could say goodbye to this place that I have come to love so much. I was walking slowly down the avenue in my Birks and overalls, accompanied by a few of Valpo'’s countless strays, trying to imprint the sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, the details of the street art that covers so many of Valpo'’s lilting buildings, and the onda, or vibe, of the city forever into my memory, when WHAM! Out of one of the twists in the street came a tiny white car playing, nay, blasting J-King, Maximan, and Los Super Heores’ "Cuando Cuando Es," creating a wall of sound that almost sent me toppling over the edge of the white railing that keeps pedestrians from falling down the steep sides of the cerros. Luckily, I was able to regain my balance and rock out for a minute to the rhythmic beat of the song before it faded behind another curve in the road.

Along with almost catapulting me off the side of Avenida Alemania, "Cuando Cuando Es" also catapulted my thoughts into a reflection on reggaeton and the culture of music in Chile. This sort of experience—being taken by surprise by an overwhelming wall of booming reggaeton—is actually a common occurrence in Valparaíso. All throughout Latin America, and increasingly throughout North America and Europe, reggaeton is one of the most popular forms of music. Originating in Panama in the 1970s in the form of Spanish reggae (or in Puerto Rico, depending on who you ask), the genre has come to flourish throughout the entire continent; entire rooms in Valpo's discoteques are dedicated completely to reggaeton. But while reggaeton is wildly popular as dance music, does it have a strong connection to Latin American cultural sentiments?

To answer that question, I began to consider the interactions I have had with music while in Chile. In the first weeks of school, one of my Chilean friends made me a CD of his favorite music by Chilean artists. It was filled with music by Los Prisioneros, Inti-Illimani, and Chico Trujillo. I enjoyed listening to Los Prisionero’s' "Independencia Cultural," a song that asks its listeners to show themselves for who they are not hide their culture; it instructs them to yell loudly, "“cultural independence!”" (I assume independence from Western/United States culture) and proclaims that people are beautiful because of their differences. At the time, I did not realize the depth and importance of their lyrics and their place in Chilean society. But one day, as I told my Chilean host cousin, a navy officer, about the music my friend had given me, I learned of its significance. My cousin became upset and asked who had given me what he called “radical” music. He explained that Los Prisioneros would call him a murderer simply because he is in the navy.

Intrigued, I decided to do a little research on the modern history of music in Chile in order to find out what makes Los Prisioneros so controversial. In the 1960s, La Nueva Canción Chilena (the New Chilean Song Movement) brought about a new genre of music described as “socially committed music.” Throughout the following decades, much of the music in Chile— and throughout the rest of Latin America —became largely political in nature. The movement’s most famous artist, Violeta Parra, left an enduring legacy with her song "Gracias a la vida," and her children established the first Chilean peña, a club that showcased Chilean folklore music. As a result of the movement, much of Chile'’s music has been very connected with the politics and social well-being of the country. Because of Chile's violent history with the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet from 1973 to 1989, many artists have used their music as a means of political criticism. One artist in particular, Victor Jara, openly accused the government of atrocities in his song "Preguntas por Puerto Montt," and many other artists were exiled. Los Prisioneros were also extremely critical of the government establishment, thus the strong reaction of my naval officer cousin. Clearly, music has played a very important role in modern Chilean politics.

Today, the legacy of this music still exists. While modern artists are perhaps not as strong in their criticism of the political establishment (given that today, Chile operates under an elected president instead of a brutal dictator), there still seem to be sentiments expressed in the songs of the artists of the past. The lyrics of "Arriba la vida", a popular reggaeton song by the Chilean group Croni-K, echo the promotion of Latin American unity present in the music of artists like Los Prisioneros when they sing, “"Todos unidos como familia/ Latinoamerica unida"” (Everyone united as a family/ Latin America united). Nowadays, as within the recent past, political sentiments can be found in the music of Latin American, especially the music produced in Chile.

Although politics are a major theme in the music of many Chilean and Latin American artists, I do not mean to say that all reggaeton and all music in Latin America contains a political element—. In fact, many of the reggaeton songs sing of women, money, and themes similar to those of American rap. In addition, the presence of music from the United States and other Western countries is quite strong. My Chilean host dad is completely enamored by Phil Collin's "You Can't Hurry Love," and I have heard him jamming to Hot Chocolate'’s "You Sexy Thing" on more than one occasion. But it is interesting to note the presence of political and social issues in the songs of many of Chilean artists and their influence on Latin American societies and governments. Evidenced by the music of Croni-K, Los Prisioneros, Victor Jara, and Violeta Parra, many artists seem to be continuing the tradition laid out by those involved in the Nueva Canción Chilena by giving voice to political and social sentiments in their music, making them a tangible and present force in Latin American society today.

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