Consciente y Positiva

If there was ever an artistwho encompassed the whole global reach of cumbia music, Paco Mendoza would be it. Born in Argentina to Peruvian and Paraguayan parents, Mendoza is now based in Berlin, where he’s signed to German label Chusma records. One gets the feeling this is cumbia very much geared towards the European market and the production is slick, verging on squeaky clean. Consciente y Positiva is definitely an album that veers towards the R&B, poppy end of the cumbia spectrum. Mendoza’s voice isn’t bad but it doesn’t have any real power to it, which means some of the songs feel feathery light. This isn’t helped with by some dodgy rhymes on tracks like ‘Presente’ (‘I'm not católico, I'm musioolico’) and lyrical fronting on the likes of ‘Cumbiame Rmx’.

But to give Mr Mendoza his dues, there are some pretty catchy numbers and he certainly has a knack of getting inside your head. Without doubt, the best track is ‘Fosforito’, on which the singer is at his most energised, closely followed by the reggae-pop of ‘Criminal Viene. Also interesting is the collaboration with Russia’s DJ Vadim, who made his name with pioneering UK hip-hop label Ninja Tune. The most intriguing of his co-productions is ‘Operativo Rescate’ (Rescue Operation) which, although sitting slightly oddly with the rest of the album, is an interesting sample-led instrumental track about social struggle and police brutality in Mexico. There’s also a great little bonus track – a bouncy Peruvian cumbia – at the end of ‘Mala Gente’, to end the album on a high.