In 2015, local producer and DJ Erick Jaimez launched Sonidero Saturdays at Deep Ellum鈥檚 Caf茅 Salsera. It quickly became a hit.
Jaimez, who is known in Dallas for his crunk cumbia, or cumbia mixed with hip hop and trap, has a theory as to why it was so successful. 鈥淭here weren鈥檛 many places that played cumbia at the time, and if they were, they were really far for anybody to want to make the trip,鈥� he said.
Cumbia, with its percussion-heavy sound and different varieties across Latin America, is considered both party music and a symbol of Latinidad, or Latin identity. It plays through speakers at quincea帽eras, weddings and backyard gatherings as people dance in pairs or in circles.
In Dallas, Latin clubs and restaurants used to play some cumbia music, but now it can be heard throughout Deep Ellum and Oak Cliff thanks to the underground artists who not only keep it alive, but also make it their own.
This new wave of cumbia both breaks and pays homage to traditions that can make anyone move 鈥� even those outside Latin communities. Cover bands honor cumbia legends, local DJs mix cumbia rhythms with other tracks and cumbia bands contribute to the genre鈥檚 growth.
It has become popular for many reasons. For one, it鈥檚 catchy and danceable. Also, social media sites have brought greater exposure to new bands and new sounds. Because of the cumbia wave, young Latinos are becoming more in touch with their identity.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a genre that I feel any Latin kid, mainly kids from Mexico, can identify themselves with,鈥� Jaimez said. 鈥淚n any part of Mexico, they鈥檙e playing Los 脕ngeles Azules, they鈥檙e playing Celso Pi帽a and all these classic songs that they know, and when they come [to a show] they can recognize it and feel somewhat at home.鈥�
Cumbia originated as a courtship dance by enslaved Africans on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Traditional cumbia used drums and flutes, such as the guache and gaita, but over the years cumbia has added horns, accordions and guitars. Modern cumbia bands can have as many as 10 members.
Sabor Puro, a Dallas-based cumbia cover band, regularly plays for Latin crowds at La Pesca Market in Oak Cliff and Traders Village in Grand Prairie. Vocalist Sylvia Ortiz, who goes by her stage name Paola, said performing at Revelers Hall in Bishop Arts last year was one of the first times they played for a broader audience.
At Revelers Hall in December, fire marshals showed up mid-performance, but the crowd kept dancing, ignoring requests to stop from the band鈥檚 musical director, Christian Ortiz, who is married to Paola. The marshals didn鈥檛 find a reason to shut it down, and the music, from Caifanes to Los 脕ngeles Azules, played on.
Looking back on that show, Paola said she felt like 鈥渁ll of Dallas was there.鈥�
鈥淢y purpose as a performer is to bring people together, especially through times of oppression and concern in the area,鈥� she said. 鈥淢usic is like a universal connector and the fact we get to do it with cumbia is kind of like a blessing. I鈥檓 not only sharing my culture, but I鈥檓 sharing it with other cultures.鈥�
Paola previously was the vocalist of a La Sonora Dinamita cover band, a gig she got after a busboy heard her sing 鈥淟as Ma帽anitas,鈥� a traditional Mexican birthday song, while working as a server at a Mi Cocina. She formed Sabor Puro in 2017, she said, with the goal of making every performance feel like a family gathering.
Reminiscent of Tejano queen Selena Quintanilla, Paola twirls on stage and dances with audience members while singing cumbia classics. Sometimes, she even sings from the tops of patio tables.
鈥淚 wanted to be an opera singer, but cumbia stole my heart,鈥� said Paola, who graduated from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and the University of North Texas and now works as a music teacher.
Cumbia bands in Dallas are playing modern styles of cumbia, combining elements of traditional cumbia with their own twists to create something representative of themselves. Los Gran Reyes, formed in 2006 by brothers Agustin and Christian Granados, use urban and electric sounds, and Cayuga All-Stars, formed in 2021 by punk rock and metal musicians, draw influence from their Mexican barrio roots and psychedelic music.
鈥淲e feel different about the sound and what cumbia can be,鈥� Agustin Granados said. 鈥淲e experiment and express ourselves in our music.鈥�
In 2021, DJs Eternos and Alaska took that same idea and transformed Desafio, a weekly vaquero goth DJ night at Cheapsteaks.
鈥淚 think a lot more Latinos in Dallas are starting to be more accepting of the culture,鈥� said DJ Alaska, whose real name is Alaska Qui帽ones. 鈥淧eople are tapping into more of the identity and being proud, and that Latino pride just makes you happy and want to dance.鈥�
They mix cumbia rhythms with their favorite emo and new wave tracks, from bands like My Chemical Romance and New Order. Mixing two very different sounds is their way of blending their two worlds: one where they grew up listening to cumbia and the other they discovered in their teens.
鈥淚鈥檓 doing Latin, but it鈥檚 filtered through all my life experiences and all the weird music that I鈥檓 into,鈥� said DJ Eternos, whose real name is Jose Hernandez. 鈥淸Cumbia] has been here, it鈥檚 just been introduced to a different crowd.鈥�