Lido Pimienta, the new Colombian sensation: “J. Balvin, neither Maluma, nor Shakira give me pride. I'm ashamed "

On the other side of the fiber optic, Lido Pimienta receives us at her Toronto home dressed in the flower tiara with which she appears on the cover of Miss Colombia, an album that the press has hailed as a miracle in an industry where Latin is synonym of reggaeton. "This album comes at a very happy moment for me," he explains of this feature that feels like the first despite being the third. The first, Color (2010), was produced by the man who was her husband at that time, but it was not until the second, La Papessa(2016) when Lido took creative control of his music. "Since I started I had a straight line that turned out not to be straight, but curved, and in the end I have reached the beginning." Born in Colombia, immigrated to Canada very young, Lido is a plastic artist –working with different Canadian galleries–, a single mother, a self-taught artist and emancipated out of necessity. "I have a very difficult personal life," he concedes. “But now I can manage that personal life, be an artist, be a mother and help others if I take these one, two, three steps. So I feel like the queen that I am, because I am a queen, I am spectacular, and when I put it in my head it is already there, it flows, it flows. "

There is something of that euphoria in an album that he confesses written under the influence of Solange's A seat at the table (“he wanted it to be one hymn after another”) and whose title is ambiguous. "If you put I in front, it is I Miss Colombia . And I'm also Miss Colombia . In other words, I need my country and I am the undeclared queen of my country ”. It evokes the scandal of the Miss Universe 2015 gala, when the presenter mistakenly announced that the winner of the pageant was the Colombian representative, and rectified to crown the Philippine candidate. "With that came the classism and racism that we still have, because it is thought that beauty can only be white," he recalls. "People insulted the presenter saying he was black and couldn't read. And I had been in Canada for five years, with my citizenship, and I said 'no, no, no'. I am Colombian and I am not. Here in Toronto I am a queen. I open my mouth and people listen. But that does not happen in my country. There I am the strange little girl that sings like a little bird. And it is because I do not subscribe to that Colombianity of the Colombian woman whose boobs are the first presentation to the world. I don't sing daddy daddy give me give me mommy mommy ”.

In fact, there is no trace of Miami - the capital of commercial reggaeton - on an album in which electronics and traditional rhythms embrace jumping melodies and political lyrics. Pelo cucu, for example, speaks of hair racism, of women who straighten their hair tirelessly or aspire that their children do not have the same hair as them. He denounces the topics that surround a business, that of Latin music, dominated by whites. "Rosalía's fans hate me," he says. “She has a spectacular voice and has obviously always wanted to be a superstar. She has a business mindset that not everyone has. My only criticism is that her collaboration with J. Balvin could have served as a platform for any female artist in South America. And yet, he has chosen Rosalía, who represents the canon of Latin women, but she is not Latina. We speak the same language, but being Latin is a very different experience. And the privilege that Rosalía has is her racial or ethnic ambiguity, which allows her to be a Flemish one day, r & b the other and chola the next. I, like Lido Pimienta, with this hair, with this face, with this ass, with this nose, I cannot say that I am flamenco [she starts to sing Oh who handles my boat , by Remedios Amaya]. I can not! No one would believe it, those of flamenco would arrive and they would say with reason that who believes this Colombian. But Rosalía does it and the whole world: Latina. Latin Grammy, all Latin, spectacular ”.

After the earthquake that Miss Colombia has caused , there are those who affirm that Lido Pimienta could be a firm candidate for more than one award. “Now they tell me that they will still give me the Latin Grammy, but it is absurd, because in order for me to receive the Latin Grammy, Gloria Estefan has to know who I am. And she doesn't know it ”, she sentences. “I am not the one who makes songs with J Balvin, but the one who gets on her Instagram and tells her that she is an idiot. 'You are not an artist, daddy, you are an entertainer, stay in your lane ”, he interprets. “He does not give me pride, nor Maluma, nor Shakira. I am ashamed. Carlos Vives seems to me a farce ”. In two seconds, Pimienta candela the myths of Colombian music. “They all have something in common, and that is that they are not black. Maluma is from Medellín and there is a very strong black community with great artists, but he does not mix it. Hence my criticism. You hear tupatupatupa, and that's black, African, street, poor, gangster. That beat is hungry, he fed many people and was the outlet for many who sold drugs. And so everyone. Did you see the video?". It refers to Maluma's when buying his first jet. "She comes out crying and says: 'Dreams come true', when there are people who do not have to eat in our country. You understand me? I say no to that, thank you ”. Her next album, she announces, will be “a hyperbole of beauty that will make you cry with happiness. My fight with my country is over. That they do what they want with Colombia, that Maluma sell it to Elon Musk. Yes, I am an immigrant. And that? Now I am a spirit of beauty ”.

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