''Cumbiana'' is the sixteenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by Colombian singer

Carlos Vives Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo (born 7 August 1961) is a Colombians, Colombian singer, songwriter and actor. One of the List of best-selling Latin music artists, best-selling Latin music artists of all time, with over 20 million records world ...

, released on May 22, 2020, through

Sony Music Latin Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is an American record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music. Sony Latin was also a division of the Sony Discos label. History In ...

. 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-songwriter. Her 2016 single, "Figures", peaked at number 58 on the Canadian Hot 100 and received triple platinum certification by Music Canada (MC) and platinum by the Recording Industry A ...

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

Ziggy Marley David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is the son of Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 2002, with whom he released eight studio albums. After ...

, 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, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...

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 TelevisaUnivision. The 2020 Latin Grammy ceremony was anchored from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, though the health protocols enacted due to the ...

, the album was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Contemporary Tropical Album, being Vives fifth victory in the category, additionally, "For Sale" was nominated for

Song of the Year A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usually ...

, "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 annual accolade for performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs. It is presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 when it was called the Gramophone Aw ...

. The album was also recognized at the

Premios Nuestra Tierra The Premios Nuestra Tierra or Our Country Awards is an annual Colombian music award show. They have a format similar to that of the Grammy Awards, but restricted to the Colombian scope. The first Premios Nuestra Tierra were held in 2007. From 201 ...

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 the Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (), is a port List of cities in Colombia, city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fou ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

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 ''Billboard'' tropical charts began in 1985 when an album chart were introduced as Tropical Albums in the June 29 issue of the magazine. In October 1994, ''Billboard'' then established Tropical Airplay, which initially rank the most-played song ...

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