By Paula Bayarte |
Lima (EFE).- The language of the Incas dances to the rhythm of Korean pop. This is the revolutionary proposal of Lenin, a Peruvian artist who cultivates a style in which he fuses careful choreography with electronic notes, musical bases from the mountains of his country and lyrics in Quechua, the language in which his mother expressed tenderness to him. Q-pop is born.
“I made a musical proposal that added my influences as a child and youth, the music I listened to; the Andean (from Peru) on my mother’s side, and the new musical genres that I discovered in high school such as k-pop, anime music and American pop,” Lenin -stage name of Lenin Tamayo-, a young man for the one that Quechua means the love of a mother and Korean music, community.
The artist’s aesthetics, music, and dances unite the rhythms of the interior of Peru with typical dances and costumes from ancestral festivities, but the choreography, staging, and rhythms are clearly of Korean influence.
It is an idea shared by a new current of artists who fuse trap and hip-hop with Quechua and traditional sounds from the interior of the country.
“Now it is becoming a trend to revalue the Andean, especially music. There are young artists coming out, making modern Andean music, some in Quechua and others in Spanish but with Andean sounds like Milena Wharton and Renata Flores,” she comments.
Something fundamental for the Peruvian artist is the possibility that the k-pop genre gives him to create visually impressive choreographies and numbers to incorporate elements such as traditional scissors dancers or old carnival masks from mountain towns among electronic sounds.
The feeling of community
Although they seem like opposite universes, Lenin has naturally fused these styles because he finds something in common that gives meaning to everything.
“I participated in traditional Peruvian dance workshops at school and university and I was able to enjoy how beautiful it is to share, rehearse and dance. And actually, it’s the same perspective as the community of guys who dance k-pop,” she points out.
And he adds: “I am very shy and withdrawn. It was hard for me to make friends and when I entered high school I was a victim of ‘bullying’, because there are people who are not the same as the norm, but I found in the k-pop community at my school a safe space where I could make friends”.
In this group, Lenin found the necessary strength to overcome difficult years. It is that same feeling of belonging that traditional groups that play and dance Andean music from Peru give him, which is why it was so important for him to incorporate both.
Since he began his artistic career several years ago, he has felt a community with his followers, who help him believe in himself, because he recognizes that it has not always been easy due to the lack of resources.
But as he expresses, life gave him a chance, when a short video posted on TikTok accumulated tens of thousands of views, and made his innovative proposal take off.
“After this one-minute video went viral, I realized the responsibility I had because I had to demonstrate, not only that I was a person who sang and danced, but also that my musical proposal, which was having an impact on many people, I had a future,” he declares.
The quechua and its mother
At the top of a hill in Lima, with views of the sea on one side and an informal settlement on the other, the young artist has recorded a Quechua version of a song by BTS, the world’s most famous Korean pop group.
“When I decided on the musical elements for my proposal, I thought that Quechua is a good way to raise awareness and generate an impact on the listener, because it is a different language,” he explains.
She relates that she learned this language from her mother, because she spoke to her in Quechua to express love and affection. For Lenin, that language is not only part of his life, but he associates it with the most beautiful words from his childhood.
Precisely his mother, who never stops taking photos and videos of him while he sings and dances, has been the greatest inspiration for the singer who is preparing his first album.
“I am an only child, my mother is a single mother, the only family I have is her and we have always lived together (…) She is a Peruvian Andean music artist and I have always lived on stage, I have seen art through her eyes and I have been able to enjoy how beautiful and how bad it is to dedicate yourself to music”, he expresses proudly.
But although she always felt that call, she studied psychology at the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos, the largest public university in Peru, so as not to worry her mother. In the last term, he entered a singing contest that he not only won, but also opened his eyes to bet on music and, despite the financial difficulties, he threw himself into it.
“I try to compose lyrics that I would have liked to hear when I was younger, I always liked k-pop songs that encouraged you to get ahead, so these songs have these lyrics. Lyrics that encourage you to follow your dreams no matter what they say, ”she concludes.