I’m fairly certain that I am the only Rican in NYC who on the day of the National Puerto Rican Day parade opted to dance to Chilean Cumbia.

On Sunday, June 13, 2010, Chico Trujillo held a party at the Oveja Negra in Astoria, Queens to celebrate the release of their latest album Chico de Oro on Barbès Records.

When I first heard the album, I knew little about Chilean cumbia save what I had heard from my Chilean familia and alot of that was based in a class analysis of the music, that this was the music that the lower classes listened to. Mexican and Colombian cumbia were more familiar to me. Pero put Chico de Oro on and you have an instant dance party, complete with familiar cumbia covers and original songs with lyrics that tease. See Chico Trujillo live and you have a dance parade.

Chico had a great opening band, Eskarioka, a local band who on their website describe their music as psychotropicalcumbia core (say that 10 times fast). Eskariola proved themselves to more than just a mere warm up to the main act, pero a hip shaking, jumping musical act on their own. See and hear for yourselves:

The band is currently working on an album.

Nothing prepared me for Chico Trujillo. Their music is a mixture of cumbia, ska, big band, bolero with some in your face punk aesthetic for good measure. The music was loud and if Chile wins even just one game of the World Cup, people should have Chico as part of the afterparty soundtrack.