Sonia Bazanta Vides (born 1 August 1940), better known as Totó la Momposina, is a Colombian singer of Afro-Colombian and Indigenous descent. She reached international attention with the release of her 1993 album ''La Candela Viva'' on Peter Gabriel's

Real World Records Real World Records is a British record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of WOMAD. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded ...

label.Biography
at Real World. Totó accompanied Gabriel García Márquez to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982 as part of a Colombian cultural delegation performing during the award ceremony.

Biography

Totó was born in the northern Colombian town of Talaigua Nuevo near Mompox in the Bolívar Department. She is from the fourth generation of her family to be involved with music. Her father was a drummer and her mother was a singer and dancer. She studied at the National University of Colombia. She then studied for a year at the Sorbonne in Paris. She received the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. In 2017, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the National Pedagogic University in Colombia.

Discography

* ''Cantadora'' (MTM Auvidisc, 1983) * ''Colombia – Totó La Momposina y sus Tambores'' (Auvidis 4513, 1989) * ''La Candela Viva'' (Realworld Records 31, 1992) * ''Carmelina'' (MTM, 1995) * ''Pacantó'' (Colombia: MTM/Europe:Nuevos Medios/USA: World Village, 2000) * ''Gaita y Tambores'' * ''Total'': 2-disc compilation *La Luna (Armada Deep, 2016) with Jude & Frank Notable usage * ''Michel Cleis feat – Totó La Momposina – La Mezcla'' – samples tracks "El Pescador" and "Curura" from the ''La Candela Viva'' album (2009) * Two songs from ''La Candela Viva'' were included on the soundtrack of the 1997 movie '' Jungle 2 Jungle''. * Her song "La Verdolaga" was sampled on Rich Boy's "Get to Poppin'" produced by Brian Kidd. It has also been sampled by Jay Z for the song "Blue's Freestyle/We Family" on his '' 4:44'' album. The song featured his daughter Blue Ivy Carter. The track was released as a bonus song several weeks after the albums original public release. * Two of her songs, "La Verdolaga" and "Mohana", were featured in the soundtrack for John Sayles' 1997 movie, ''

Men With Guns ''Men with Guns'' ( es, Hombres armados) is a 1997 American political drama film written and directed by John Sayles, inspired by the 1992 novel ''The Long Night of White Chickens'' by Francisco Goldman. It stars Federico Luppi, Damián Delgado, ...

''. * Her song "La Verdolaga" was covered on P18 (band)'s "Urban Cuban'" in 1999. * Her 1993 Colombian cumbia classic "Curura" was sampled by

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving af ...

featuring J Balvin in the song titled "Que Calor".

Awards and nominations

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
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, - ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, , ''El Asunto'' , ,

Best Tropical Latin Album The Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the tropical latin music ...

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Latin Grammy Awards

Totó la Momposina has two Latin Grammy awards from four nominations for her collaboration with the urban group Calle 13 on their song " Latinoamérica", receiving in 2013 the lifetime achievement award. , - , 2000 , , ''Pacantó'' , , Best Folk Album , , , - ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, , ''Pacantó'' , , Best Traditional Tropical Album , , , - ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, , ''La Bodega'' , , Best Traditional Tropical Album , , , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2",

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, , " Latinoamérica" , , Record of the Year , , , - , "Latinoamérica" , , Song of the Year , , , - ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, , Special Awards , , Lifetime Achievement Award , , , - ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

, , ''El Asunto'' , , Best Folk Album , , , -

Premios Nuestra Tierra

A Premio Nuestra Tierra is an accolade that recognize outstanding achievement in the Colombian music industry. Totó la Momposina has received a nomination. , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1", 2014 , , "La Candela Viva" (with

Jorge Celedón Jorge Celedón also known as Jorgito Celedón is a Colombian musician and singer of vallenato music. Celedón was one of the backup singers for the vallenato group Binomio de Oro de America who joined after the death of Rafael Orozco Maestre. In ...

) , , Best Folk Performance of the Year , ,

References

External links

Totó La Momposina official website

Indigenous Cactus Flutes, Afro-Colombian Drums and Brass Bands – Totó La Momposina Puts Colombia's Soul on the World Stage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toto La Momposina Living people 20th-century Colombian women singers Cumbia musicians Real World Records artists 1948 births Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Sony Music Colombia artists Women in Latin music National University of Colombia alumni