Ilegales Album
Zulema Estabrooks
Ilegales (also called Los Ilegales, "The Illegals") is a Grammy-nominated[2][3] Dominican merenhouse group, which is one of the main exponents that helped to introduce and establish the merenhouse to the mainstrean and get an international audience. The band is well known by hits such as "La Morena", "Taki Taki", "Tu Recuerdo", "La Otra" and "Chucucha". They were one of the first merenhouse acts to perform at Via del Mar International Song Festival in 1998 and 2003.
Ilegales is one of the best selling Dominican acts, receiving gold and platinum certifications across Latin America, and winning Latin Billboard Music awards, Soberano Awards, and receiving nominations to the Grammy Awards and Latin Grammy Awards on several occasions.
In 1995, Ilegales released their debut album and was certified hit. In 1996, the single "La Morena" was a massive hit and Peaked at 6 on RPM Dance Charts in Canada.[4] It was certified Gold in Mexico selling over 100,000 unites, Gold in Venezuela and Platinum in the United States.[5]
In 1998, they won "Best Rap Artist" and "Best Rap Album" for Rebotando at the 1998 Latin Billboard Music Awards.[6][7] En la Mira, was nominated for "Best Rap Album of The Year" at the 1999 Latin Billboard Music Awards.[8] Also, in that year they performed at Via del Mar Festival. By the end of 1999, "Ilegales" and "Rebotando" had sold over 1.5 millions of copies worldwide.[9][10] and where certified four times platinum in Chile.[11]
In 1998 came a terrible loss for the group as one of their members, Jason Gonzalez, passed away in an automobile accident. Their performances at the 1998 Via del Mar International Song Festival in Chile were in remembrance of him. [12]
In 2002, the band was nominated for the Lo Nuestro Award.[14] In addition to reaching the Billboard Tropical charts on their own, the group also had a hit with Alexandra Cabrera De La Cruz of Monchy y Alexandra. They were nominated for the Latin Grammy in 2003 for Best Pop Album.[3]
In 2015, Ilegales was nominated as "Best Group or Band" to the Lo Nuestro Award.[16] In that same year, they performed at the Nuryn Sanlley amphitheater to celebrate 20th Anniversary of the band.[17] The Single "Pasarla Bien" with El Potro Alvarez, become their 8th Top 10 on Biilboard Tropical Airplay and peaked at number one on Venezuela airplay.[18]
Daniel: The concept of incorporating more of the psychedelic sound also came from when I had a show with CiTR, actually. I had this concept of a new experimental psychedelic cumbia sound. I was just really craving it. These ideas were burning in my mind, and I was restless to develop them.
Follow Empanadas Ilegales on Instagram for upcoming shows, music updates, and to get in on their good energy // @empanadasilegaless. You can purchase their new limited edition vinyl through the link in their bio.
Vancouver-based psychedelic Cumbia and Salsa band Empanadas Ilegales, announce the official Vinyl release of their second album, Creepy Mambo. A limited-edition run of 100 vinyl, featuring a remaster and splatter vinyl.
Creepy Mambo layers cumbia rhythms, hypnotic guitar melodies and experimental salsa saxophone lines with surf-rock/free-jazz fusion. The album pays homage to cumbia cult classics like Los Galax and Los Wemblers and brings their grooves to the post-pandemic 21st century with experimental synthesizer sounds, slinky dub grooves and feverish percussion excursions.
With the songs written in the midst of the Covid pandemic in rainy Vancouver, Creepy Mambo was recorded in Oct. 2021 and from the start, it was intended to be experienced live with its infectious instrumental journey to the living memory of the tropics that invites listeners to dance it out.
There is a very good reason why cumbia music sounds like an assegai of sunshine bursting through the clouds. Its origins date back to the slave trade in Colombia. From this hardship came a defiant marriage of Spanish instrumentation and West African rhythms as unity was sought. Thus, the resultant sound is a melee of vibrancy that speaks to human communion with just a hint of a sombre note that stands to highlight the importance of celebration.
That whirlwind of summer typifies the sound on the new record, which is, in many ways, a homage to the modern pastime of crate-digging. Eras, genres and emotions collide to create a punchbowl of brilliance. And with that classic vinyl sentiment in mind, we asked them to tell us about five cumbia masterpieces that have inspired them along the way.
Empanadas Ilegales: A fantastic, mostly instrumental album recorded by bassist, composer and Orchestra leader Pedro Laza. Laza was one of the most influential musicians and composers of his time in Colombia in the mid-1950s, the golden era of Colombian music. During this period, Laza began experimenting in orchestral-Caribbean groups featuring trumpets, trombones and sax.
Empanadas Ilegales: Lucho Bermdez is considered to be one of the most important performers and composers of Colombian music in the 20th century. He adapted traditional Colombian musical styles such as cumbia and porro into modern rhythms that would become symbols of national identity from the 1930s.
Empanadas Ilegales: Clmaco Sarmiento founded his own orchestra in 1959 and became the arranger for Pedro Laza y sus Pelayeros with whom he collaborated on albums such as Navidad Negra, Esperma y Ron, Rito Esclavo and the famous Candela that Daniel Santos recorded with Laza.
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