Lido Pimienta (born 1986) is a Colombian Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence after her 2016 album, '' La Papessa'', won the 2017 Polaris Music Prize.Lido Pimienta Wins 2017 Polaris Music Prize
, ''Exclaim!'', September 18, 2017. Her music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, including traditional indigenous and

Afro-Colombian Afro-Colombians (), also known as Black Colombians (), are Colombians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Colombia has one of the largest African diaspora, Afro-descendant populations in South America, with government ...

musical styles such as cumbia and bullerengue, as well as contemporary

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

."Meet Lido Pimienta, the Art Pop Warrior of the Latinx Underground"
''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

'', October 31, 2016.

Early life

Originally from

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...

, Colombia,"Lido Pimienta Takes Control"
'' Noisey'', March 21, 2014. she later immigrated to Canada, settling in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

, before moving to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, where she is currently based. Her father died when she was six years old.

Career

Pimienta released her debut album, ''Color'', in 2010. The album was produced by Michael Ramey, Pimienta's husband at the time,. '' Chart Attack'', January 29, 2017. and was released by Los Angeles–based music label Kudeta. After Pimienta and Ramey separated, Pimienta took time to pursue a degree in

art criticism Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is quest ...

, in addition to learning more about music production, before releasing her second album, '' La Papessa'', in 2016. That year, she also collaborated with A Tribe Called Red on several tracks for their 2016 album '' We Are the Halluci Nation''. Following the release of her experimental album ''La Papessa'', which was self-produced by Pimienta, she was awarded the 2017 Polaris Music Prize, which is considered Canada's top juried music award. ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' called her "the future of Canadian

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

", and dubbed her the "artist of the year". There was controversy surrounding her performance at the Halifax Pop Explosion music festival on October 19, 2017. Pimienta, as she often does during her concerts, invited the "girls to the front," and then asked that the white women she just asked to the front move back behind the brown women. Some audience members saw the request as racist, and a white volunteer photographer refused to move from her spot near the stage where she was working. When the photographer refused to move after repeated requests, Pimienta said, "you're cutting into my set time and you're disrespecting these women, and I don't have time for this". The photographer was removed from the show and the festival organizers later apologized to Pimienta, saying they would increase "anti-oppression and anti-racism training". In addition to working as a musician, Pimienta is also a visual artist and curator, and her work has been described as exploring "the politics of gender, race, motherhood, identity and the construct of the Canadian landscape in the Latin American"; her work was exhibited in the group exhibition ''Feministry Is Here'' at Mercer Union gallery in Toronto. She later in 2020 released ''Miss Colombia'', her follow up studio album to her award-winning album ''La Papessa''. The title was derived from the Miss Universe 2015 beauty pageant incident, which sparked an outrage from the Colombian people. This prompted her to reflect on many things like her Colombian heritage and pride, and caused her to fall into a depression. Many themes and ideas surrounding the album, ''Miss Colombia'', are a reflection on this outrage and depression, as Get In Her Ears states a "vivid celebration (and criticism) of her Colombian heritage". Pimienta created a television program titled '' Lido TV''. The show premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on September 11, 2022. Following its premiere, the show was available to stream on CBC Gem beginning September 23, 2022. Press coverage describes ''Lido TV'' as a variety show that will explore themes that include feminism, colonialism, privilege, beauty, success, and hate. The show's format will include documentary footage, interviews, sketch comedy, and puppetry performances that are hosted, written, and produced by Pimienta. Pimienta's fourth studio album ''La Belleza'' was released in May 2025. Ammar Kalia of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' described it as a "nine-track orchestral suite touching on everything from Gregorian chant to strings-laden love songs and dembow rhythms."

Personal life

Pimienta identifies as

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

. She is of mixed

and Wayuu descent. She is a single parent. Pimienta is close friends with Canadian singer-songwriter

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...

and with Li Saumet, lead singer of Colombian band Bomba Estéreo.

Discography

* ''Color'' (2010) * '' La Papessa'' (2016) * '' Miss Colombia'' (2020) * ''La Belleza'' (2025)

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pimienta, Lido 21st-century Black Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women singers Canadian pop singers Canadian women pop singers Colombian pop singers Colombian women pop singers Colombian emigrants to Canada Colombian LGBTQ singers Canadian LGBTQ singer-songwriters Musicians from Barranquilla Singers from Toronto Wayuu people Afro-Colombian women Living people Canadian record producers Canadian electronic musicians Polaris Music Prize winners 1986 births Canadian women record producers Canadian women in electronic music Women in Latin music LGBTQ people in Latin music Anti- (record label) artists Canadian queer women 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Spanish-language singers of Canada Spanish-language singers of Colombia LGBTQ women singers Canadian queer musicians