Mejor Que Me Mate Dios

September 15, 2022 1:28 PM

Petrona Martínez, the queen of bullerengue, won a Latin Grammy last year at the age of 82. The 2021 album Ancestras + a review with songs! On the musical legacy of slavery: "The Colombian city of Cartagena was a principal port for trading enslaved people, and many escaped to form Palenque communities of cimarrones across the Caribbean coast." On her first trip (at age 59) and performance in Bogotá: "Her fellow Colombians didn’t know anything about this ancestral music that had been preserved through generations of Black women despite —or perhaps because of— the isolation and invisibility. It wasn’t until she was in her 50s, after working as a domestic worker and a sand collector and becoming a mother of seven, that Petrona was able to record her own music."
posted by spamandkimchi (6 comments total)

Also from the Rolling Stone article:

When the Latin Grammys took place in November, the musical matriarch was sitting in her bright blue living room with her family in Palenquito. Llerena and her siblings surrounded Martinez and reminded her of something she’d said when she first got nominated: That if she won a Latin Grammy, she was going to dance. “Well, let’s dance, because you won!” they told her in a video clip that boomeranged across social media. The family erupted into cheers while Martinez was overcome with emotion.

posted by spamandkimchi at 1:30 PM on September 15, 2022

Good stuff. The song about the women singers of her dynasty, reminded me of Tibetan Women's singing. I love the rhythm of this.
posted by Oyéah at 2:17 PM on September 15, 2022

The video for "El Niño Roncón" is charming and the music lovely, with great rhythm and singing.
posted by domdib at 4:22 AM on September 16, 2022 [3 favorites]

I will never get tired of Mefites dropping into the blue with spectacular introductions to musical genres I didn't even know existed until that moment.
posted by mhoye at 6:58 AM on September 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

Apple Music link
posted by zenon at 10:31 AM on September 16, 2022

That's tight 🎉. Love Petrona Martinez and all the music that comes from the Carribbean coast of Colombia. Toto la Momposina, Son Palenque, Etelvina Maldonado, etc. etc.
posted by nikoniko at 11:24 AM on September 16, 2022