Migration is a concept associated with people, but with it comes culture, habits and music. As cumbia has moved across Latin America, the sound of Colombia has arrived at Monterrey, Mexico, where a northern phenomenon of cumbia rebajada (cumbia lowered) has developed over the last six decades.

Sonideros (sound systems) began to appear in Monterrey in the 1960s, and to this day there is a cult of tropical rhythms, which are not homegrown but which the barrios have made their own. From the sonidero comes cumbia rebajada, a rhythm with a lower pitch, and this cadence has created a new music that links both cultures. There are different myths about the birth of the genre, one being that it was the consequence of a turntable malfunctioning at a cumbia party, the unintended sound then being embraced by the crowd.

Over the years, different groups and individuals have been influenced by and expanded on the genre, some of which are included in this Global Ear playlist.

Luis Carlos Meyer
“La Danza Negra”
From Porros Y Cumbias
(RCA) 1974

Luis Carlos Meyer is a musician from Barranquilla, the epicentre of Colombia’s Caribbean region, along the Magdalena River, land of porro and cumbia rhythms. He lived in Bogotá, Mexico City and New York, and is considered one of the pioneers of the Colombian movement in Mexico in the 1940s. Whether performed by Luis Carlos Meyer, Tropa Colombiana or others, “La Danza Negra” is an iconic song.

Lucho Bermúdez y Matilde Díaz
“Mi Cumbia”
From San Fernando Y Otros Éxitos Inolvidables De Lucho Bermudez Y Matilde Diaz
(Sonolux) 1954

José Remedios Ortega, better known as El Morelos, has been selling records for 40 years, travelling from Mexico City to Colombia and Monterrey, moving the music north. He is from Peñón de los Baños, a neighbourhood near the Mexico City airport where he plays at the Sonidero Continental on Friday afternoons. When asked for an example of a pivotal track for this playlist, he chose “Mi Cumbia”, and says, “It's a song that already has a very low pitch in its original version, it's from there that the ‘lowered’ and sonidera cumbia was born.”

Pedro Laza
“Cumbia Cienaguera”
From Disco De Oro De Monterrey Vol 3
(ECO) 1986

Disco De Oro De Monterrey Vol 3 is an essential LP in the sonidero culture. It is a 1982 release by the ECO label, which is the label dedicated to releasing Colombian music in Mexico. It includes songs by Aníbal Velásquez, Andrés Landero, and Lisandro Meza, among others. “Cumbia Cienaguera” by Pedro Laza is a piece from the cumbia repertoire of the Magdalena River, in the Colombian Caribbean. This record was one of the most appreciated and played records by the first sonideros of Monterrey.

Tropa Vallenata
“Al Ritmo De Tambo”
From Los Caminos De La Vida
(Disa) 1996

“This song shows the cadence of cumbia, and I am seduced by the sound and a certain esoteric connection between rhythm with low frequencies,” says Toy Selectah, a producer and DJ from Monterrey, who chose “Al Ritmo De Tambo” to demonstrate the impact of Colombian cumbia. “Monterrey is transformed into an industrial city and many people come from nearby cities, people who don’t identify with the Norteño sound or with English music,” he says, “so Colombian cumbia brings this surreal effect of converting an industrial city, a city without a sea, into a city with tropical music.”

Celso Piña featuring Control Machete
“Cumbia Sobre El Río”
From Barrio Bravo
(Wea Latina, Inc) 2001

“This song has urbanity, and mixes cumbia and rap before the genres that came out of that fusion raised the idea of 21st century music,” says producer Toy Selectah aka Control Machete, owner of El Cuarto Del Control, the studio where Celso Piña’s album Barrio Bravo was recorded. “Cumbia Sobre El Río” was part of the Latin music boom that was facilitated by a dedicated Latin MTV channel, and became an iconic song of the Kolombia culture.

El Kombo Kolombia
“Regresa”
From Cumbia Popular
(No label) 2022

El Kombo Kolombia is a Mexican band that played vallenato – a popular folk music genre of Colombia that translates as “born in the valley” – and were destined to be the next hit of Colombian cumbia in Monterrey. In January 2013, all their members bar one were killed after a concert – the incident was later linked to the narco gang Los Zetas. “This is a very special song,” says Jorge Balleza of Sabotaje Media. “Kombo Kolombia played the corralero-rebajado style, which is the current style. It is very symbolic, so everyone has a lot of respect for this song.”

Andrés Landero
“Bailando Cumbia (rebajada by Dueñez)”
(Previously unreleased)

Gabriel Dueñez is one of the pioneers of rebajada cumbia. Legend has it that while he was playing, his turntable began to play slower records, with a cadence that people began to like until it became a new genre. His albums emerged from cassettes where he recorded slowed down cumbia and which today are considered original jewels of the movement. Jorge Balleza, from Sonido Sabotaje, explains: “This is a hit by Sonido Dueñez, the moment you hear the accordion at the beginning, everyone's skin crawls, because Dueñez played that song and the whole party was on fire.”

Turbo Sonidero
“Baby, Tú La Tienes (rebajada by Dueñez)”
From Lowrider Kumbias Rebajada Por Sonido Due​ñ​ez
(Discos Rolas) 2023

Turbo Sonidero is from San Jose, California, which has a strong connection with Monterrey. The name itself refers to the rebajado sound, and this recent release featured further reworking by Sonido Dueñez. Turbo is also a part of Grupo Jejeje, and the Discos Pirámide label.

Read Juan San Cristóbal Lizama's report on Monterrey's cumbia scene in The Wire 486. Wire subcribers can also read the article online in the digital magazine library.