Local DJ El Dusty’s “Cumbia Anthem” has been nominated for a Latin Grammy. Courtesy photo
[image id="20711" title="El Dusty "Cumbia Anthem" width="100%"]
Cumbia should be celebrated on a worldwide, commercial level, says local musician Dusty (“El Dusty”) Oliveira, who got a lot closer to that goal with his recent nomination for a Latin Grammy. Oliveira was nominated for his song and music video “Cumbia Anthem,” in the Best Urban Fusion/Performance for the 2016 Latin Grammy Awards. Winners will be announced live during a broadcast on Univision Nov. 17.
“Cumbia is the heart and soul of the music I’m making right now,” Oliveira said. “It has a lot of traditional values, and I like to keep those things going in my music and lifestyle. I like to give back to the culture and community.”
As homage to a popular style of Latin music, Oliveira’s “Cumbia Anthem” speaks for what modern cumbia means in urban Corpus Christi. Scenes of downtown are depicted throughout the video: Selena’s Mirador de la Flor memorial; the Loteria mural on Chaparral; a sweeping view of Shoreline Drive and Corpus Christi Bay. The video ends in a vibrant club scene with Oliveira on stage, captivating the crowd.
“We wanted to show where we are from,” he said. “We’ve been looking for a song to give Corpus this sort of branding and style, and we nailed it.”
Cumbia has a distinct sound, a syncopated and complex rhythm from a range of percussion instruments and has been acclaimed as the mother of all Latin music — without cumbia, there would be no salsa or cha-cha.
The modern version of the 200-year-old sound still pays homage to its Colombian origins. Talented fusionistas like Oliveira take the foundation of cumbia rhythm and insert their own style — transforming it into sub-genres like psychedelic rock, reggae and trance. Oliveira’s cumbia is fused with modern hip-hop and trap music. He cites a number of influences on his style, but his family is the biggest.
“My mom was always playing cumbia in the kitchen and in the car,” he said. “My dad was into rock and soul music. My brother was into heavy metal and gangster rap. It was a good mix.”
Oliveira’s hobby making music all started in 1992 when his older brother brought home a set of turntables from a quinceañera. A few years later, Oliveira’s uncle, a radio DJ in South Texas, died and left him more than 20,000 records. The collection was a mix of cumbia, soul, funk and everything in-between. Oliviera still uses these albums to sample in his music.
“Growing up, I always wanted to be a DJ and make music,” he said. “I’m a rap guy — when I first started, that’s all I did. But I like Latin stuff, I like the rhythm and the beats, so I let this influence come in. I think it was just ingrained in my brain from being around it so much.”
Oliveira is part of Peligrosa, a group of DJs that come together each month for a dance party in Austin. Peligrosa brings Latin flavor into the capital city’s live music scene, pushing it to the mainstream.
“I’m one of the original members,” he said. “We started it, like, nine years ago, and it’s still going. And that’s a cultural movement in itself. It inspired a lot of similar parties in New York and Los Angeles. It’s something for Austin to be really proud of, I think.”
Cumbia music is not always in Spanish and it’s not always strictly Latin, Oliveira told 101 Corpus Christi.
“It’s just cool music and it’s groovy,” Oliveira said. "Everyone should be into it.”
Oliveira wants to bring appreciation of his favorite music to a wider audience.
“First off, we gotta get that Grammy,” Oliveira said on his goals for the future, “Second, keep it growing. I want to get to a point where I’m producing other artists — they want this certain sound, so they’re going to call me.”
Follow El Dusty on Facebook and you can be a part of helping cumbia and the Corpus Christi music scene gain a bigger audience.
