According to one hip-hop artist in the documentary "Frekuensia Kolombiana," Colombia has coffee, beautiful women and cocaine.
But don't be mistaken, he adds, Colombia also has much more than this. There is a whole culture of youth who are standing up to create art in the form of hip-hop, which is documented by Colombian filmmakers Vanessa Gocksch and Walter Hernandez in "Frekuensia Kolombiana, Tuning Into the Columbian Hip-Hop Movement."
Filmed in the streets of Medellín, tphe documentary unearths an expanding underground scene where urban youth - armed with only a microphone and their poetry - are fighting against social ills and stereotypes of modern day Colombia. Much like the start of American hip-hop years ago, these kids view hip-hop as a means of spiritualism, and are not rapping to become famous, but to be heard.
"It's a very honest film about the hip-hoppers in Colombia - the artists, the breakers and the visual artists," said Jorge Ortega, the U.S. executive producer of "Frekuensia Kolombiana."
Born in Colombia and raised in the United States, Ortega got to know many of these artists on a first-hand basis.
"A lot of hip-hop in the United States has become so commercial, it's all about the 'bling factor,' where as in Colombia you have these artists who are producing music with whatever is available to them," he said. "Its essence reminds me very much of where hip-hop started in New York in the '80s."
It's the attitude, the collaboration and the hunger of misplaced youth that make "Frekuensia" such a moving film, Ortega said, not to mention the raw talent of young men and women stringing beautiful Spanish rhymes together about the everyday struggles of being Colombian.
The film also points out that forms of hip-hop have echoed throughout Colombia by way of traditional cumbia and other means of spoken word. Footage of rap circles getting broken up and hip-hop kids being harassed by police are also reminiscent of ghettos in the United States where police brutality is the norm.
Many of these artists struggle to get their hands on any form of instruments.
"Here we have access to all the latest technology. If you want to buy the latest music gear, you can just dump it on to your credit card," Ortega said. "But these kids struggle and save money for months just to buy a beat machine. Then when they have money, they have to figure out how to get access to it."
According to "Frekuensia," Colombian hip-hop has gone unnoticed by the masses because there is no industry for it.
"Right now the music that is coming out of Colombia is pop music - Juanes and Shakira," Ortega said. "But these are urban youth who don't have record labels and promoters backing them up."
Ortega said he hopes people walk away from the film with a different view of Colombia.
by Jessica Del Curto