Chicha Popular: Love & Social Political Songs from Discos Horoscopo 1977-87

By the late 70s Peruvian cumbia had become synonymous with neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Lima populated by internal migrants from the Andes and the Amazon. The cumbia they played had a strong cholo (mixed Andean and Spanish) identity, with a smoother, more vocal-orientated approach, marking it out from earlier cumbia. This compilation collects together some of the hits from this era, splitting them into two categories, love songs and socio-political songs.

In regards to love, it’s all broken hearts, tears and drinking, Los Shapis singing ‘they call me a drunk drunkard,’ and blaming a woman for putting them in that state, while Chacalón likewise has no option but to get drunk ‘because of her.’ The socio-political songs continue these themes, but interlaced with social commentary, Grupo Alegre unable to love a woman because she’s from a different social class, Pintura Roja’s ‘Navidad Sin Mamá’ the story of a migrant who can’t face Christmas without his mum, and then there’s Chacalón y la Nueva Crema’s much-loved ‘Soy Provinciano’, about being proud of coming from the provinces. Though modestly produced, there is so much passion on show here that it’s hard not to get stirred by these working-class Peruvian anthems.