I have just finished a hearing marathon for the music of Kanka, that irreverent Andalusian poet who has become an oasis in the middle of the desert for those of us who aspire to listen to honest music. For two hours I was connected to his discography, thanks to the Spotify algorithm, which took me through fifteen or twenty songs from different eras and formats of his.
In none of them I could hide the smile that their stories always make me, sung with a very practical and theatrical accompaniment. But when I got to the topic, I’m glad to see you, I couldn’t help laughing at his attempt to enter the world of reggaeton.
In his lyrics, the Kanka tells us about real romances, he does not paint golden birds for his muses or go to any of the common places that are repeated over and over again in 99% of existing romantic songs. His aesthetics do not fit into the Western beauty mold, the defects become virtues in his songs and he gets the solidarity of the listener making him wish that the singer succeeds in his love affairs. He portrays the love scenes with such realism that one manages to decide the color of the curtains in the room where the events occurred. The everyday becomes glorious and the simple things in life become monumental achievements.
With his brash way of rhyming, he achieves metrics so complex that they defy rhythm, as if Thelonious Monk himself were the lyricist. In several of his songs he commits the offense most penalized by singing teachers, which consists of breathing in the middle of a word, and he does it with a grace that disarms the most conservative of guardians of good taste. The Kanka also gives practical advice for coping with harsh reality and frequently speaks of detachment from everything material as a tool to overcome anguish.
I named this column ‘Sinceridad’ because sincerity has long since disappeared from music sung in Spanish, now many creators of tunes dedicate themselves to mimicking the same verses with lyrics that no longer convey surprise, only boredom.
In the new generation of Hispanic American singer-songwriters, very few manage to build on the legacy of Mercedes Sosa, Juan Manuel Serrat or Caetano Veloso, the exception to this lack of initiative are Residente or Drexler. On the side of the new Latin American female voices, many have dedicated themselves to singing simple tunes whispered with a thin voice, although a few manage to get out of the straitjacket of the protest song, false folklorism or lullaby. but they do it very shyly. That’s why I was delighted after this hearing journey, that is, I was Enkankado.
OSCAR ACEVEDO
Musician and music critic
[email protected]
2023-08-26 02:23:32
#Sincerity #Opinion #column #Óscar #Acevedo
