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Ring In The New Year, 'Screwmbia' Style

This New Year's Eve, don't forget to dance. <em>Alt.Latino </em>can help.
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This New Year's Eve, don't forget to dance. Alt.Latino can help.

What's a New Year's Eve party without music?

This week, Texas DJ Luis Espada (a.k.a. King Louie) of the Peligrosa collective visits Alt.Latino to share samples of the style they created — the one they call "screwmbia."

The music is much more than a bunch of creative types taking liberties with an established dance form, in this case cumbia. It is, in fact, an in-the-moment expression of a major cultural shift among Latinos as they get in touch with a heritage that hasn't been a part of how they self-identify. This is the sound of music-makers getting back in touch with their roots, one remixed song at a time, and in the process creating a movement that reverberates beyond the parties and clubs of their home base in southern Texas.

If I made that sound like sound like something out of a PhD thesis, never fear. The music Peligrosa creates is exciting, fresh and so, so danceable.

Happy New Year from your pals at Alt.Latino!

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Felix Contreras is co-creator and host of Alt.Latino, NPR's pioneering radio show and podcast celebrating Latin music and culture since 2010.