“Rap had to be heard in Quechua,” says Peruvian Renata Flores.

Lima, July 5 (EFE). – Renata Flores sings rap and snare in the Quechua language, blending modernity and lineage while uniting styles, composing about femicide or climate change, as evidenced by her latest work this Tuesday at a meeting with the foreign press in Lima.

“I felt that Quechua should be heard in rap,” Flores said, explaining that the urban genre allows for storytelling, like Andean songs he has always heard, and at the same time contains an element of protest, anger and strength.

In addition, the singer began writing her own songs thanks to the genre, “Listening to the rap I started composing, I felt the lyrics flow better that way and I felt the Andean sounds blend well with rap and snare.”

“Pachamama” (Quechua Earth Goddess), is the name of her latest single which also gives the name of the album to be released in August, a work that, like the rest of her songs, blends Quechua and Spanish. .

He emphasized that he sings in Quechua to express that it is a living language, but also out of a practical sense that the Peruvians themselves seek to learn and practice it.

The 21-year-old singer has already sung about problems such as corruption, patriarchy or mistreatment of the environment, but also about the terrorism that shook Peru at the end of the 20th century, and that particularly affected Ayacucho, the region from which she originated. Come on and how you marked this dark phase.

“I consider myself an activist,” Flores said shortly before commenting on the political situation in Peru, declaring that young people would “wake up with a hand on their heart.”

Pattern fusion

Flores declared that he is a fan of the K-pop group BTS, at the age of 15 he began to admire the American jazz and blues singer Nina Simone, and the Venezuelan rapper Canserbero (1988-2015) helped him compose rap music, but the basis of his work inspiration It is traditional Andean music.

“I will not stop experimenting,” he said excitedly. “Now I am investigating the rhythms of afro and woodland.”

He also declared that the community of singers and artists who claim their ancestry and their indigenous languages ​​is growing, whether in Peru or in Bolivia or Ecuador, “We are more and more,” he said.

Flores emphasized that in addition to preparing for the release of his new album, with which he intends to cross borders and reach audiences in the rest of the continent or Europe, he is leading a campaign to save an archaeological center in his hometown.

Velcachoman is the Inca castle of Ayacucho, degraded by time and neglect, and also a special place for the singer who does not hesitate to incorporate the modernity of social networks to defend the origins of her culture and region. EFE

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