23 Bullerengue y mapalé
En el caribe colombiano, hay otros géneros y ritmos que se relacionan con la cumbia, pero no son cumbia propiamente. Cumbia tiene influencias de África, España y culturas indígenas del Caribe colombiano. En cambio, la principal influencia del bullrerengue es africana. Bullerengue deals with all kinds of topics related to daily lives in isolated, country-side communities of African origins, such as death, daily chores, animals, plants or domestic violence.
The beat of bullerengue is similar to cumbia but it incorporates only percussion instruments mainly tambores. Tradicionalmente los tambores son para los hombres (=men) y la voz es para las mujeres. El baile (=the dancing) es más común también para las mujeres.
Ejemplos de bullerengues son:
Dale la vuelta al molino – Juventud Alegre uploaded by Miguel Hernández Álvarez, title meaning “Turn the windmill” and the name of the band “Juventud Alegre” translates “Joyful Youth”. It’s about the traditional process of making bread with the windmill.
¿Por qué me pega? Etelvina Maldonado ALE KUMA, why do you beat me? is the title, and the Singer is called Etelvina Maldonado, old and famous bullerengue female cantante. The singer tells the story of a mom who was beating the child, and the child just asks again and again: why do you beat me, mom?
Sírveme el Café Pabla – Tonada uploaded by Mi Bullerengue Bonito, “pour over the cofee for me, Pabla”. The name “Tonada” is a subgenre of bullerengue. The male singer is honoring a famous female cantante called “Pabla”, and asks that she pours over the coffee for her because he enjoys spending time with her cantando, tocando y bailando.
Cangrejito – Juventud Alegre uploaded by Mi bullerengue bonito. “Cangrejito” means “My little crab”, and it’s about a crab that is walking towards a city named Quibdó, which is not in the Caribbean, but closer to the Pacific coast. The crab is a metaphor to the many times people have to move a different place to escape from violence in the Caribbean territory. The moving happens in difficult conditions and situations which resembles a crab moving.
Lava lavadora – Herederos del Bullerengue. The title translates “Wash, washer”, and the band “Inheritors of the Bullerengue”. The first is a command to the verb LAVAR (=to wash) and the other refers to the woman who does the washing on the river. It’s the same name for the washing machine.
Grieving a deceased little girl
The lyrics below focus on one bullerengue called “Bullerengue para un ángel”. The song is a prayer to a deceased baby. African Colombians believe that the babies who die become later an angel. The baby turned into an angel plays a role in watching over their hermanos (=sibblings) and primos (=cousins).
Orito Cantora & Jenn del Tambó – Bullerengue para un Ángel
The choir often just mocks the melody with the sound LEH repeated, as when you sing LA LA LA. This is called a “lereo” (=la la laing). The child is already in el Cielo (=the heaven/the sky) as an Angelito (=little angel) her hair turned golden be. Ella muda (=mute) because she’s death and can’t speak. Menciona un canjocito que te cuida (=little drawer that watches over you), which refers to the coffin or burial box. The verb CUIDAR means to take care or watch over someone. La niñera cuida a los niños (=The babysitter takes care of the children). In affairs of cuidar, the deceased nena (=female baby) would be the main angel watching over su hermano y sus primos (2:30-2:40).
Metaphors for the sweetness of a child: algodón (=cotton), piel menuda (=tiny skin), belleza muda (=quiet beauty), hilos de oro tu pelo (=threads of gold your hair), boquita flor de coral (=little mouth flower of coral), chiquitica (=tiny), rojita fruta madura (=mature red fruit), alma pura (=pure soul), muñequita melodiosa (=harmonious little doll), estrellita de mi noche (=little star of my night), cocuyo que más titila (=lightning fly that twinkles the most), nena (=female baby)
Words with diminutive: angelito=ángel, boquita=boca (mouth), chiquitica=chiquita=chica (small), rojita=roja (red), cajoncito=cajón (drawer), cajita musical=caja musical (=music box), muñequita=muñeca (doll). The diminutive ending is mainly ITO or ITA, and this means little, tiny, or is used to express affection. Sometimes the diminutive is CITO as in CAJONCITO because the word ends in a consonant or ICA as in CHIQUITICA which is a diminutive of a diminutive.
Lelé lelelelele, Leilé lele mi amor (my love)
Leilé lelelelele, Leiré leré por Dios (for God)
Angelito del cielo de algodón tu piel menuda
(Little) Angel from the heaven (made of) cotton your tiny skin
Valerie belleza muda, hilos de oro tu pelo
Valerie quiet beauty, threads of gold your hair
Boquita de flor de Coral, chiquitica mi criatura
(Little) mouth of flower of coral, tiny my creature,
Rojita fruta madura, alma pura del palomar
Red mature fruit, pure soul of the pigeon-place
Cajoncito que te cuida, cual cajita musical
(Little) drawer that takes care of you, like music box
Muñequita melodiosa, baila en tu jardín floral
Melodious (Little) doll, dance in your floral garden
La primera de la fila, nena ilumina el camino
The first of the line, baby iluminate the path
De tu hermano y de tus primos, sé tú la que los vigila(s)
Of your brother and of your cousins, be you who watch them
Estrellita de mi noche, cocuyo que más titila
Star of my night, lightning bug that most twinkles
Hoy mi canto a ti te hila, de mi manto tu eres broche
Today my singing to you threads, of my blanket you are brooch
Hoy canto pa’ ti princesa, y lo hago a todo pulmón
Today I sing for you princes, and I do it with all my lung
Tú fuiste la inspiración, Y mi voz pa’ ti no cesa
You were the inspiration, and my voice for you doesn’t stop
Songwriters: Grace Lascano. For non-commercial use only. Adapted from Musixmatch, powered Microsoft Bing.
Perrito, gatito y gallito
There’s another bullerengue by a traditional famous cantaora called Petrona Martínez. I know we said CANTANTE (=singer), but CANTAORA is quite affectionate word most often used for the folkish leading voz.
Petrona Martinez … the Queen of Bullerengue {Colombia}uploaded by studio coconut.
Petrona asks the choir of male secondary voices to repeat the sounds of animals implying that in the afternoon el perro ladra jau jau, in the night el gato maúlla miau miau and in the morning the rooster sings cocoroyó.
Verbs she uses:
- To have in imperfect: something you had in the past is an ongoing action in the past so you mainly use the imperfect. In this case, she uses “mi mama tenía”.
- Things the animals do in the present: ladra (=barks), caza (=hunts), bate (=shakes), tirar (=to pull). El gaitón is a big gaita, the traditional cumbia pipe.
- Slang: “no es pendejo” means scumbag and it’s a joking way to recall the cleverness of the gallo.
Mi mamá tenía (=had) un perrito (=Doggy), tenía un gatito (=Kitty), tenía un gallito (=little rooster).
Esos tres animalitos se comunican (=comunicar) su desventura.
These three Little animals communicate each other their misfortune).
El perro ladra (=ladrar) al conejo, el gato caza (=cazar) al ratón.
The dog barks the rabbit, the cat hunts the mouse
El gallo, que no es pendejo, bate (=batir) las alas y tira (=tirar) el gaitón.
The rooster, who’s not dumb, shakes the wings and pulls the big pipe.
Y por la tarde (=and in the afternoon) jau jau , y por la noche (=and in the night) miau miau (repeats this line)
Por la mañana (=and in the morning) cocoroyó
Mapalé
The mapalé is a combination of vibrant sounds of drums alone, the constant repetition of words and cheering expressions, mainly made to dance batiendo y agitando las piernas, los hombros (=shoulders), and la cabeza (=the head). Los brazos (=the arms) sometimes se mueven hacia arriba (=upwards) y hacia abajo (=downwards) violentamente. In the colonial period the Spanish believe the Africans were possessed by the demon just because they danced like that. El mapalé seems like have the genre with the most African influence, with little of indigenous or Spanish elements.
Prende la vela
This is Totó la Momposina (e.g. El pescador) singing it, and dancers performing in a way that looks quite natural and spontaneous. La cantante asks the negrita (=black little woman) to light up the candle. That is why the tittle is “Prende la vela” (=light up the candle), again, to dance in the night on the beach with no artificial light. However, according to her, it’s because “el mapalé pide candela” = the mapalé requests candel. Then la cantaora just repeats el mapalé, el mapalé, el mapalé…
Totó La Momposina – Mapale/Prende la Vela (live at Real World Recording Week 1991)
San Basilio de Palenque
There’s a town called San Basilio de Palenque close to Cartagena. The town was formed out of from the slaves who fled the plantations during the colonial period. They speak a language derived from African languages, Portuguese, and Spanish. They maintain the religion and traditions from their African heritage.
The Africans who escaped from slavery were called cimarrones. They built fortresses made of sticks to defend themselves, in Spanish palos. That’s why this town is called Palenque or wall of palos. Their tools for self-defense were usually sticks, stones, or traditional Hispanic knives called machete: pronounce every single E and make the hard T. Machete is a farming tool, also used to fight. El cantaor says yo tengo (=I have), then he says just tengo without having to repeat the word yo.
Listen from 0:42 to pick the word tengo, Palenque, and machete.
BAILE MAPALE, ORIKYTABALA , DE SAN BASILIO DE PALENKE, CARTAGENA COLOMBIA
Yo tengo mi rancho grande
I have my big ranch
También tengo mi machete
Also I have my machete
Lo tengo dentro de mi ropa
I-have it inside my clothes
En el pueblo de Palenque.
In the town of Palenque.
Here’s a description in Spanish of what happens in the dance. El verbo SACUDIR significa to shake:
- Las mujeres están paradas y sacuden las caderas ligeramente. Los hombres entran en desorden y se paran detrás de las mujeres. Hombres y mujeres cantan con la mano en el corazón.
- Hombres y mujeres se separan: mujeres sacuden las caderas con las manos a los lados, hombres sacuden los brazos y hacen un paso adelante, otro adelante.
- Hombres hacen una fila y avanzan en círculo. Mujeres hacen otra fila y avanzan en círculo. Sacuden los pies contra el suelo: dos veces a la izquierda, dos veces a la derecha.
- Se miran hombre con mujer. Sacuden los pies dos veces a un lado, dos veces al otro lado.
- Mujeres al suelo, hombres pasan por encima.
- Hacen otra vez las dos filas, y círculo de hombres y mujeres. Se paran en fila atrás del escenario. Sale una pareja a improvisar.
- Mueven las caderas lentamente en parejas en las transiciones
- Mujeres en el suelo con las piernas flexionadas, hombre pasa por encima
- Mujeres sacuden la cabeza y el pelo
