Cumbia Funk has landed! There’s no doubt that cumbia is the most popular rhythm in Latin America. While salsa is basically a Latin Caribbean genre, cumbia is a more true representative of a Pan-American culture. From Argentina to Mexico you find cumbia based rhythms in a myriad of permutations. But it’s massive popularity means that this music isn’t normally viewed as being ‘cool’ and it admittedly can get pretty damn cheesy. But a new generation of Latinos have grown up listening to this music, mixing it up with anything from hip hop to rock.

A.B. Qunitanila opened the door a few years ago to a new breed of “cumbiancheros” and bands like Ozomatli have had great results with their Cumbia explorations. Still, being the hardcore salsa devotee that I am, I was not exactly convinced that I’d be in for much of a treat when I was asked to review a cumbia CD – the music just always sounded a bit repetitive to me. But I have to say that after listening to Grupo Fantasma’s Movimiento Popular, album, I must admit I was wrong…very wrong.

This band is the real deal. Where acts like Sidestepper got to the middle of the road, these guys went and came back! In a market saturated by pretenders and copycats, it’s always refreshing to hear a band with a unique sound. The composition of the band is more similar to a salsa or funk group than to a typical cumbia ensemble. Their eclectic blast is a mix of funk, rock, ragga, salsa, all mixed in with a heavy dose of Afro percussion and a wicked brass section whilst consistently retaining the cumbia beat. And what before sounded wrong, now sounds very right. I have not enjoyed an album like this for a ling time and if this is the future of Latin music, I’m looking forward to it. But don’t take my word for it, listen to this album and get converted like me!