It has been five years since Lido Pimienta released her acclaimed Miss Colombia. On the 2020 album, the multi-disciplinary artist merged traditional rhythms like cumbia, porro, and bullerengue with electronic alternative pop arrangements. The new release, La Belleza, departs from the previous record with its fully orchestrated compositions drawing from Western classical and choral music. Arranged with an orchestra in Barranquilla, Lido Pimienta’s hometown, it is classical music in its very own sense. The singer infuses her songs with Afro-Colombian sounds, raising the question of who gets to decide what is considered classical music.
Finding the Light
OFFKEY: Lido Pimienta, on your last album, Miss Colombia, with songs like “Coming Thru”, you already worked with some tools from Western classical music. Why did you decide to compose La Belleza as a fully orchestrated record?
Lido Pimienta: Coming from Miss Colombia, I was a little frustrated because we put it out during lockdown, and did not get to tour it properly. On top of that, I realized that whenever I see it in record stores, it’s never with pop music, even though it is a pop record. It is always in the “world music” section. Just because I am not white, my music can’t be pop?! La Belleza is me trying to take up space in a genre, classical music, that usually excludes me. Like, what will happen if I arrange a fully orchestrated record? Will they put it in the classical music section now?
On Instagram, you spoke openly about the struggles you faced with this record, like some bad experiences you had with people you worked with who took advantage of you. I think it is super important to share these stories. Did that experience also influence the album in the end?
Yes, it was a very challenging time for me because I was working with a person who completely took advantage of me and left me struggling financially. I went through a lot of anger and felt betrayed and helpless, which turned into clinical depression. At some point, I thought about giving up. Music helped me through that period, and the album encapsulates that feeling of not giving up on oneself and on life.
What Is Classical?
In the recording process, what were some musical sources that you drew from?
I was looking into choral music from the Italian second century. It is entirely sung by men or boys. Instead of allowing women to participate and to sing, they would go as far as castrating boys so that they would keep their higher registers for singing. So ridiculous. Then I went on to think about what was happening in Colombia at that time and what music sounded like there. So, there is Afro-Colombian percussion and singing on the record, and there are strings and opera-style vocals as well. All of those are classical music to me.
Throughout all my art, I want to represent the Caribbean as sublime. My family, my roots, the Blackness, my ancestors, the traditions. I want to hold on to those connections.
Do you remember your first interactions with what is considered classical music?
I am Caribbean, and I grew up in Colombia, so the colonial past and present very much shaped my relationship and interactions with classical music. The canon of Western European music gets pushed down our throats as the epitome of what music and musicality are supposed to be. So, I was like, what is the big deal? Let me try it. I didn’t go to school for it. But still, here is the classical music that you wanted, that you think only white people who studied for decades can make. Making this record was claiming Western music and its tools for my creative expression and reinterpreting it through my gaze.
Do you think we should redefine or abandon the term classical music?
We definitely have to question what the term classical actually means and where it comes from. The label classical is used to gatekeep by those in power, the colonial capitalist countries. They write the narrative; they dictate who is considered classical or canon and who is not. If there is a tribe in Colombia, for example, and they’ve been singing ancestrally for centuries, that is classical music to me. There is a lot of classical music that is not from a theater in Europe, but it is less visible and less revered. And there is a different preciousness and prestige given to a violin in comparison to Afro-Colombian drums. I want to resist that.
Would my album be received differently if I were a white girl from Europe? Would it then be considered classical?
Light is Hope
There is not much BiPoC representation in this genre. And when it comes to music from Colombia, it is mostly reggaeton, trap, or traditional sounds like Merengue or Salsa that get publicity. Where do you feel like you fit in?
I don’t feel like I belong in any of these categories. I am an experimental artist, not an entertainer. In general, I don’t think I am even a music industry person. I always say the wrong things, wear the wrong things, and speak out about the wrong things. People in the industry in any genre, even those who I was close to, started calling me a radical terrorist for speaking up about a genocide. If you show a minimum of care for humanity, you are suddenly a radical. The mainstream music industry serves this system in a way. I am not willing to play this game.
In the song titles, themes that recur are love “amor” and light “luz”. What do they mean to you?
Light is hope. No matter what, I have to cling to the hope of a better world for my children. I worry a lot about what kind of world we are leaving behind for future generations. Even when it seems like an impossible task, maintaining hope is a way to resist. Light to me is revolutionary hope, strength despite humiliation and oppression. It is laughing in the face of your oppressor. Because if we lose hope, we stop fighting back, and things will never change.
Last question: On your Instagram page, you describe yourself as the Colombian Sailor Moon. Why?
Isn’t it obvious? I am a crybaby. Everything makes me cry and offends me. I don’t want to do anything, I want to eat dessert, breakfast, lunch, dinner, but when it’s time to fight, don’t mess with me. Because I will fuck you up. So, I’m Sailor Moon.
La Belleza by Lido Pimienta is out now via ANTI Records. Stay up to date with Lido Pimienta by following her on Instagram and website.