By Dalia Hajir and Leslie Saucedo
When you live in a border city, you get a heartfelt understanding of the challenges and wonders of different cultures sharing the same air. Throughout El Paso's history we have appreciated how the symbiotic relationship between the United States and Mexico has given local artists innovative ways to make their voices heard. A case in point example is Radio la Chusma.
Image caption: Rasta Mexico. Radio La Chusma, 2011
This band’s predominant reggae style infused with cumbia, Caribbean, South American and Afro Cuban music takes you to a unique place that nevertheless feels familiar, a fusion of the traditional to create something new. “The border is collaborative, full of creation,” said founder Ernesto Tinajero to the San Antonio Current a decade ago. “When two huge forces like our two nations meet, great energies are unleashed — something beautiful erupts.”
Tinajero is a wise man. Nearly all he says is delivered with passionate eloquence and dedication; he seems the type of person who would tell you wonderful tales under the night stars around a crackling fire. He founded Radio la Chusma officially in 2002, though ac-cording to an El Paso Inc. article, the group has "been around since the '90s with several transformations.” This tribe of hard-working musicians produce an infectious mix of sounds that dance along Spanglish lyrics, everything topped with Latin spirit!
You may wonder what chusma means. From Spanish to English, it means rabble, a disorganized or disorderly crowd of people. When asked this same question, however, Tinajero dives a bit deeper. "Chusma is the riffraff, the unwanted, marginalized people that we as a society do not value, the natives of these lands, the indigenous side in all of us.” This statement signals the band’s deep awareness of current issues while making sure to celebrate our origins. In this vein, their song “Calavera no Llora,” was released to honor our ancestors and loved ones who left us.
The video for “Calavera no Llora” shows Tinajero placing offerings on a decorated table: water, fruit, candles, flowers, clothing, or anything the de-ceased person enjoyed when alive. A masked figure dressed in warm colors responds to the offerings and the music, comes back from the dead, and starts dancing to the upbeat rhythms within the excited crowd. When the night falls and the song ends, the figure goes back to its resting place, concluding its visit to the realm of the living. “Calavera no Llora” feels nostalgic and lively — a universal story that reaches anyone’s soul.
Other local hits like “Big Money” and “Cruzando Fronteras” are political in nature. The former speaks to the pro-tests at the Standing Rock pipeline and the Duranguito neighborhood in Down-town El Paso, per a 2020 article from El Paso Inc. The latter acknowledges the immigrants who leave their countries behind to reach the American Dream, taking with themselves only memories of their past life in search of a better one. “One of our goals is a unifying message and an eye-opener,” Tinajero said after the release of “Big Money.” “Being OK with who we are is another message to a lot of brown-skinned Americans who would rather follow the “American” way, or what is popular. We are all people of this Earth. We were all indigenous at one point, and I think the farther we get from that, the farther we get from understanding each other. We are not that different. We have all been conquered, we’ve all been abused, and we’ve all risen – and we try to do all that with music. After all, all cultures had a drum at the beginning.”
Radio la Chusma’s multi-stylistic approach to music has united listeners of all backgrounds. With its soul-igniting border sounds and thoughtful messages, its members invite us to accept our roots, ourselves, and our fellows from the other side, because, as Tinajero reminds us: “Everything is everything. It’s all one. It’s a beautiful thing.”
