''Cumbiana'' is the sixteenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Colombian singer

Carlos Vives Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo (born 7 August 1961) is a Colombian singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his interpretation of traditional music styles of Colombia such as vallenato, cumbia, champeta, bambuco and porro as well as genres ...

, released on May 22, 2020, through

Sony Music Latin Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is a record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music. History In 1979, CBS Records (now Columbia Records) ended its partnership with C ...

. It was produced by

, Andrés Leal and Martin Velilla, and features collaborations with

Jessie Reyez Jessica Reyez (born June 12, 1991) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Her 2016 single "Figures" peaked at number 58 on the Canadian Hot 100 in 2017 and was certified triple Platinum by Music Canada and Platinum by the RIAA. Her 2017 EP, ''K ...

Alejandro Sanz Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro, better known as Alejandro Sanz (; born 18 December 1968), is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. Sanz has won 22 Latin Grammy Awards and four Grammy Awards. He has received the Latin Grammy for Latin Grammy Awar ...

Ziggy Marley David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician, actor and philanthropist. He is the son of reggae icon Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 200 ...

, Elkin Robinson and

Rubén Blades Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948), known professionally as Rubén Blades (, but in Panama and within the family), is a Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in th ...

. The album was accompanied by a documentary film titled ''El Mundo Perdido de Cumbiana'', released on July 20, 2020, as well as a book titled ''Cumbiana, Relatos de un Mundo Perdido'', the latter was written by Vives alongside historian Guillermo Barreto and released on December 30, 2020, both projects explore the origins of

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include: ...

following the theme of the album. At the

21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards The 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards were held on Thursday, November 19, 2020 and broadcast on Univision. The 2020 Latin Grammy ceremony was anchored from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, though the health protocols enacted due to the COVID-1 ...

, the album was nominated for

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

and won Best Contemporary Tropical Album, being Vives fifth victory in the category, additionally, "For Sale" was nominated for Song of the Year, "Canción para Rubén" won Best Tropical Song and the documentary film won

Best Long Form Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Film is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs. ...

. The album was also recognized at the

Premios Nuestra Tierra The Premios Nuestra Tierra (Our Country Award) are a recognition that is given to Colombian and some International artists. They have a format similar to that of the Grammy Award, Grammy awards, but restricted to the Colombian scope. History The ...

of 2021, given to highlight Colombian music, among the eleven nominations that Vives received, the album was nominated for Album of the Year while the title track was nominated for Song of the Year and won Best Folk Song.

Background

The album was recorded in several studios in United States, United Kingdom, Spain and Colombia. It explores the genre of

as well as its history, according to Vives, its a homage to indigenous people from Colombia and its musical richness, he has said that "we have always thought that the joy of our music comes from our African ancestors, but in reality, our indigenous peoples are the ones who have brought that exuberance to Latin music". Namely, the title track is dedicated to the city of

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

due to its importance to the music of the country, Vives said that "we have to be grateful to the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, that is the birth of many artists, of our culture". The name for the album is a term created by Vives to refer to the places where the genre originated like Montes de María, the Ciénaga de Lorica and the Sabanas de Bolívar, among others.

Singles

The first single for the album was "No Te Vayas", released on March 5, 2020, while the second single was "For Sale", a collaboration with Spanish singer

, released on May 19, 2020. After the release of the album, the title track "Cumbiana" was released as the third single on October 15, 2020. "No Te Vayas" and "Cumbiana" peaked at numbers 2 and 12 at the

Tropical Songs The Tropical Airplay chart (formerly known as Tropical/Salsa and Tropical Songs) is a record chart published by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine introduced in 1994. The first number-one song on the chart was "Quién Eres Tú (Luis Enri ...

chart, respectively, additionally, the latter song was successful in Panamá, debuting at number one and spending five weeks at the top position of the chart.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Carlos Vives 2020 albums Carlos Vives albums