My rumba is not going to stop and Rumbatá says it

My rumba is good

He doesn't have a schedule

It is danced without sorrow,

Does not take a salary

Mowi, mowi, mowi, mowi.

From his native Camagüey, Rumbatá maintains a strong presence within the national rumbero scene. Going beyond geographical fatalisms, he participates in the most important festivals on the Island, in addition to having four phonograms, all under the musical production of his countryman Manolito Simonet: Rumbatá (Egrem, 2008), the rumba of the century (Bis Music, 2011), Thanks to the rumba (Bis Music, 2017) and my rumba is not going to stop (Bis Music, 2022). When the recordings that precede this latest album are reviewed, it is easy to find elements of continuity in the record work of this group, with a sound seal that defines it. 

Since his debut, Rumbatá raises a maxim: the balance between the traditional in the rumba and more contemporary sounds. This crystallizes in My rumba is not going to stop where they call openly rumba fusion to four of the 10 themes that comprise it. 

To the treatment of the genres typical of the rumba (yambú, guaguancó and columbia), to which they insert Afro-Cuban touches —mainly from Yoruba and palo rites—, they add sounds typical of the “modern” rumba: batá-rumba and guarapachangueo. The latter, emerging styles in the second half of the last century, are antecedents of the so-called rumba fusion, which advocates a freer way of approaching the genre and combining it with other coexisting ones in its time such as son, salsa, trova, rap, conga, current urban music.

In addition to this core feature, there are other elements that have characterized the recordings of Rumbatá in its 26-year career, and that likewise mark its most recent production. 

The group's interest in performing the yambú "the old way" or in weather Spain, both for the inclusion of anonymous songs from past centuries, and for the interpretation of original works by the group with tempo, touches and voices that evoke that old sound. 

Another distinctive feature is the special emphasis on choral arrangements, in which they include several voices that cover a wide range of timbres and give great expressive force to the songs. In the most recent phonogram, the choirs were duplicated, with which they manage to give it even greater volume at the sound level; duets are also used, which evoke the rumberos of the early twentieth century. In general, the voice constitutes one of the main means they use to extrapolate elements from other genres and insert them into the rumba, rapping based on the rumba base being perhaps the most evident and one of the features with the greatest impact since their first album.

In addition, it highlights the timbre treatment of the percussions. Beyond the characteristic touches, the sound of Rumbatá exploits the different heights of the idiophones, cajons, congas and batá drums, and in each timbre strip they design rhythmic-melodic lines under a polyphonic conception. This resource is easily perceived in the intros of the themes, being more evident in Mace.  

On the other hand, the insertion of electronic sonorities is moderately manifested with the use of pads that also emphasize the timbre treatment that I mentioned before, and it is an element that identifies the group both in the recordings and in live presentations. 

In the discography of Rumbatá, it is common to find rumba versions of trova works (new and traditional) to which a montuno is added, inserting, in it, new texts and inspirations to the originals. It is the case of snow lantern (Raul Torres), spring butterfly (Miguel Matamoros), Oil painting of a woman with a hat and Mace (Silvio Rodriguez), Veinte años (Maria Teresa Vera) and Identity (Pablo Milanes).

Likewise, it is common to find collaborations with artists from other music scenes.. Adalberto Álvarez y su Son, Sixto Llorente, among others, have participated in the discography of the group from Camagüey. The Indian and Dimensión Latina, from Venezuela, and for the 2022 album they had the Quinteto Babalú (Cuba/Colombia) in The guarapachanga and with Silvio Rodríguez himself in the interpretation of his theme Mace.

They often pay homage to representative figures, either from the rumbera scene itself or from other styles of Cuban music. Sometimes this celebration is found explicitly in the repertoire of their albums, where we can trace, for example, the same thing a tribute to Pello el Afrokán in mary snails (in the album Rumbatá); than Adalberto Álvarez in Te equivocaste (included in my rumba is not going to stop). In other cases it is more subtle, as happens in interpretations in which the vocal treatment recalls the style of rumberos from emblematic groups such as Muñequitos de Matanzas, Afrocuba or Clave y Guaguancó. In the specific case of my rumba is not going to stop, pay homage to two valuable members of Rumbatá who were unable to see that album finished: Nerina Calderón and Reinaldo Betancourt.

Another feature that is accentuated in this 2022 album with respect to the previous ones is the use of intertext and self-reference. As a resource of modernity —or rather, postmodernity—, the use of intertext, both in lyrics and in music, is a powerful link element with other musical styles. In addition to the Afro touches and songs themselves, which constitute the most recurrent form of intertext, in my rumba is not going to stop There are numerous references to dissimilar musical themes such as: Tin tin, the rain fell by Teresita Fernandez, The well paid by Juan Mostazo and Ramón Perelló, Hey, how is it going by Tito Puente Hakuna Matata by Elton John and Tim Rice and To Santiago on foot by Jose Manuel Somavilla. 

This resource coexists with texts that resort to phrases and codes typical of rumbero environments, combined with phrases from Afro-Cuban folkloric slang and allusion to everyday scenes where the guapería, the tiradera and sexism build their own lyric. In the texts, the ethics, religiosity and sap that characterize the rumbero scene are reflected in messages that seek to connect with audiences of different ages within this context, as evidenced in A good friend, theme interpreted by Wilmer Tadeo Ferrán, the youngest voice of the group, 

The self-referential appears from the title itself in some works such as I am Rumbata (album Thanks to the rumba), even in all the themes of the most recent phonogram: my rumba is not going to stop, where this feature appears either in the couplets, in the guides or choirs, as a resource that serves as legitimation in a context where media coverage has imposed dynamics that require ways of listening and memorizing. This practice, although it dates back to the first decades of radio broadcasting, is today much more emphatic, as a kind of selfie sonorous; and it can even be understood as a connection between current urban music and rumba, thus establishing a close dialogue. 

The performance in the Caonao recording studio, founded in the city of Camagüey a little over two years ago, the constant search for scenarios in which to make his proposal visible, the renewal in terms of sounds, the formation of new figures and the fact of doing Rumba with messages that connect with the way of being and thinking of its audiences, are other pillars that are intrinsically related to the work of spreading and safeguarding the genre by Rumbatá.

In its broadest dimension, this group from Camagüey is one of those that has the most conditions to strengthen the "export" of Cuban rumba and music beyond our borders. Not only for their creation and genuine projection, but also for the capacity for self-management that characterizes them. Rumbatá, with Wilmer Ferrán at the helm, have become a benchmark of professionalism in terms of the demands and dynamics of the music industry and have shown it throughout their career. However, for this dream scope, it would be useful to activate a mechanism in Cuba within the national industry, which we already know is missing links.