Colombias viral chart is generally awash in tuneful reggaeton the dominant sound of commercial pop in that country, with its tightly programmed beats and curt rumbles of bass. But in June 2018, an unusual song rocketed to the top of the Spotify ranking: La Mitad De La Mitad by Crudo Means Raw. The looping rhythm section evokes old funk records, rather than laptop wizardry, and instead of sketching tales of love (or at least lust), the lyrics rallied against new anti-drug laws in the country.
La Mitad De La Mitad sparked an enthusiastic response in Crudo Means Raws hometown of Medelln. All over the city, they were banging that track in nightclubs, says the rapper-producer, whose real name is Fernando Bustamante. It would be the 2 a.m. part of the party where it gets really grimy and ratchet, and they would play my song.
Bustamantes breakout single melded the techniques of American hip-hop producers listen for the Parliament sample with the sounds of Colombia: The drums pay tribute to the countrys Pacific Coast region, a hotbed of Afro-Colombian fusion that is rarely acknowledged on modern Latin radio. The hybrid reflects Bustamantes passion for New York raps so-called golden age in the late Eighties and early Nineties A Tribe Called Quest, Gang Starr. Colombia loves old school hip-hop, Bustamante says. Tribe said they made music so people could dance while they used their minds at the same time. Thats the objective. And thats La Mitad De La Mitad protest music you can dance to.
Bustamante lived in Long Island, a train ride from the birthplace of the rap groups he revered, until he was five, when he moved back to Colombia to be with his mother. My mom gave me that Dangerous tape [by Michael Jackson], the rapper recalls. And she would listen to a lot of Sade and a lot of Latino music: [the label] Fania, Willie Coln. [A] Tribe [Called Quest] was poppin. Bone Thugs[-N-Harmony] E. 1999 Eternal was poppin. When Disaster Strikes by Busta [Rhymes].
In time, Bustamantes fandom morphed into a desire to create art of his own, and he started to emulate the greats. I would make beats like Pete Rock made beats, he says, nodding to the New York producer whose Nineties albums with CL Smooth are viewed as boom bap bibles.
I didnt have my unique sound back in the day, Bustamente continues. But he studied the craft of beat-making, searching for a fresh approach to a canonical style. He also started to distribute his work around town: I would give away beat tapes to people on the corner smoking weed, people on the soccer field. Beats? Beats? Beats?'
When Bustamante got to high school, he began to rap in earnest with classmates; one of them was Jos Balvin, now known simply as J Balvin, one of the most popular singers on the planet. Even back then, he was the man for the catchy hooks, Bustamante remembers. I was doing the MCing; the lyrical part.
When Bustamante decided to start rapping in earnest, it was probably inevitable that he modeled his approach on his early-Nineties hip-hop heroes, artists who famously valued their message as much as their groove. The money move is cool, but I want the lyric [to be meaningful], Bustamante says. A lot of people are listening: Teachers, janitors, workers. I come from where many are born, few are raised, he raps in No Copio, a pretty, propulsive track that encourages listeners to defy fear. I just want to breathe.
Bustamantes message resonated with manager Rebeca Len. [The producer] Sky [Rompiendo], who I work with, came over to my house and put on La Mitad De La Mitad,' Len recalls. I lost my mind. It became the song I listened to most in 2018 on Spotify.
Len had heard stories from her then-client Balvin about rapping with a high school friend he called Fercho. I knew about their adventures: They came to Miami together, lived in an apartment and painted houses, they grinded together, she says. But I never knew Fercho as Crudo Means Raw. When she reached out to Bustamante on Instagram to praise La Mitad De La Mitad, she was shocked to learn he was Balvins old collaborator and decided to reunite the two men during a party at fashion week in Medelln. [Bustamante] came and surprised [Balvin]; [Balvin] started crying when he saw him, she recalls. (Len now manages Crudo Means Raw.)
If La Mitad De La Mitad was, in Bustamantes words, the gate to enter the portal to the next dimension, follow-up single Maria is the interstellar rocket ship. Released just before Christmas 2018, this is a true head-turner a deftly executed hybrid of dembow-funk with a psych-pop bridge.
Bustamante opens the track with some casual bluster: Obvio, obvio que le gusta. That means, obviously they like it, obviously,' he says. The swagger in the art is also present in the artist; Bustamantes playful bravado is part of his charm. Now when they say obviously in Medelln people in the street cant even say obvio anymore because they remember Maria!
Thanks to his new fame, Bustamante has recorded collaborations with Juanes and his old friend Balvin. Even as his audience multiplies, Bustamante is adamant that the mission remains the same. The song might be commercial, have a catchy hook, but the substance should turn a light on, he says. I want to make messages that echo.