ChocQuibTown

ChocQuibTown
Background information
Origin	Chocó, Colombia
Genres	Hip hop, funk, Afro-Colombian
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Nacional Records Sony Music
Associated acts	Sidestepper La Mojarra Eléctrica
Website	www.chocquibtown.com
Members	Carlos "Tostao" Valencia Gloria "Goyo" Martínez Miguel "Slow" Martínez

ChocQuibTown (sometimes written as Choc Quib Town) is a Latin Grammy Award-winning Colombian hip-hop group, whose members are originally from the Colombian department of Chocó but which formed in Cali. The group consists of Carlos "Tostao" Valencia (rapping), his wife Gloria "Goyo" Martínez (singing and rapping), and Gloria's brother Miguel "Slow" Martínez (production and rapping).

ChocQuibTown performing at Central Park Summer Stage, New York City, 2011

History

Gloria Martínez (born 12 July 1982) and her younger brother Miguel (born 1986) were both born and grew up in the small town of Condoto in the department of Chocó in western Colombia. Their father Miguel had a large collection of records ranging from salsa and local chirimia bands to Western pop like Michael Jackson^[1][2] and Gloria has said that her nickname "Goyo" comes from the fact that as a girl she loved listening to her father's records, in particular "Goyito Sabater" by the Puerto Rican band El Gran Combo - she sang along to the song so often that her family started calling her "Goyito", which was later shortened to "Goyo".^[3] Father Miguel was from a musical family: his cousin was Jairo Varela, founder of Grupo Niche, one of Colombia's best known salsa bands.^[1]

Due to Miguel senior's job as an electrician the Martínez family moved first to the department's capital Quibdó, where his children Gloria and Miguel first met and became friends with Quibdó native Carlos Yahony Valencia (born 5 March 1981), and then later to the sea port of Buenaventura. As Colombia's major Pacific port the town saw a lot of trade coming in from the US, and the Martínez children started to hear American hip hop music from Los Angeles and other parts of the US, brought in the sailors on the ships.^[2]

Having graduated from school in Buenaventura, Gloria moved to Cali to study psychology at university, while also becoming involved in the city's fledgling underground hip hop scene. It was in Cali in 2000 that she met Valencia again, who had moved with his mother to live in the city, and was now also involved in rapping. Over a meeting in one of Cali's parks, Valencia told Martínez about his idea to create a band to make a fusion of Colombian Afro-Caribbean music and hip hop from the perspective of the Afro-Caribbean people of the Chocó, and to promote this neglected corner and culture of Colombia, an idea that appealed to Martínez.^[3] Her brother Miguel, who had become interested in producing music on his computer, asked to join them, and ChocQuibTown was born. The band named themselves after the city and department that they had grown up in: Tostao said that "we chose the name because it's very sonorous, and in music all the elements you use must be focused in sound".^[2]

Tostao convinced the Martínez siblings that they had to move to Bogotá to pursue their musical ambitions. In Bogotá, Tostao sung with various local bands, including Mensajeros, Carbono and La Mojarra Eléctrica. Goyo was invited to join the salsa/electronic group Sidestepper^[3] - the group's founders Richard Blair and Iván Benavides heard the musical ideas of Tostao and Goyo and encouraged them to pursue their ambitions and record their own songs. The band played at the "Hip Hop al Parque" festival in the capital in 2004 and won the competition for best band at the festival, their prize being 10 million pesos.

Their first album, Somos Pacífico (2006), was recorded and released independently by the band and produced by Blair and Benavides. Their music and live shows were gaining a reputation and in 2008 ChocQuibTown signed to Nacional Records and released their second album, Oro. The album also became their first international release with US and UK versions the following year, although these differed from the Colombian version, being compilations of tracks from both Somos Pacífico and the Colombian release of Oro. The group undertook an extensive world tour in 2010 (including over 40 dates in Europe alone) which included the festivals of South by Southwest in the US, Glastonbury and Lovebox in the UK, Roskilde in Denmark, and Parkpop in the Netherlands. The group's third album, Eso Es Lo Que Hay, was released on Sony Music in November 2011, and was produced by Andrés Castro and Slow.

In 2013 the band released Behind the Machine (Detrás de la Máquina), an album of songs from their previous albums re-recorded in a simpler, more traditional style without technology.

When the band play live they are joined on stage by Milton Jurado (guitar), Jhon Sanchez (electric bass and backing vocals), Larry Viveros (tambora, congas and marimba) and Andrés Zea (drums).

Personal life

Tostao and Goyo have been a couple since 2002: they married on 7 December 2011 in a hacienda a short distance north of Bogota.^[4] In October 2012 they announced they were expecting their first child in April 2013.^[5]

Trivia

Their song also featured as soundtrack in EA Sports video game twice: "El Bombo (Toquemen el Bombo)" in FIFA 11 and "Uh La La" in FIFA 15.

Discography

Albums Studio albums List of albums, with selected chart positions Title Album details Somos Pacífico Released: 2006 Label: Polen Records, Zafra Format: CD Oro Released: March 2, 2010[6] Label: Nacional Records Format: CD, digital download Eso Es Lo Que Hay Released: October 2, 2012[7] Label: Sony Music Latin Format: CD, digital download El Mismo Released: May 6, 2015 (COL)[8] Label: Sony Music Latin Format: CD, digital download

Remix albums List of albums, with selected chart positions Title Album details Behind the Machine Released: November 25, 2013[9] Label: Sony Music Latin Format: CD, digital download Extended plays List of albums, with selected chart positions Title Album details El Bombo Released: June 6, 2008 Label: Nacional Records Format: CD Paris-Bogotá (with Oxmo Puccino) Released: 2008 Label: N/A Format: CD

Singles

As lead artist

List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		COL [10]	US RHYTHM [11]
"Somos Pacífico"	2006	—	—	Somos Pacífico
"Pescao Envenenao"		—	—
"El Bombo (Toquemen el Bómbo)"	2008	—	—	El Bombo
"Oro"	2009	—	—	Oro
"Son Berejú"		—	—
"De Donde Vengo Yo"	2010	—	—
"Calentura" (featuring Tego Calderón & Zully Murillo)	2011	—	21	Eso Es Lo Que Hay
"Hasta el Techo"		7	—
"Uh La La"	2013	—	—
"Cuando Te Veo"	2015	1	—	EL Mismo
"—" denotes a title that was not released or did not chart in that territory

As featured artist

List of singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions					Album
		COL [10]	US LATIN [12]	US LATIN POP [13]	US TROP [14]	VEN [15]
"Creo en América" (Diego Torres featuring ChocQuibTown & Ivete Sangalo)	2011	—	—	—	—	—	N/A
"El Mar de Sus Ojos" (Carlos Vives featuring ChocQuibTown)	2014	1	11	15	2	1	Más + Corazón Profundo
"Un Paso Hacia La Paz" (with Artists for #SoyCapaz)		—	—	—	—	—	N/A

Guest appearances

List of non-single songs with guest appearances by ChocQuibTown

Title	Year	Artist(s)	Album
"Iron Lion Zion"	2014	Santana, Ziggy Marley	Corazón

Recognitions

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Award is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement on the music industry.

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2011	Oro[16][17]	Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album	Nominated
2015	Behind the Machine	Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album	Nominated

Latin Grammy Awards

A Latin Grammy Award is an accolade by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry.

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2009	ChocQuibTown[18]	Best New Artist	Nominated
2010	"De Donde Vengo Yo"[16][18]	Best Alternative Song	Won
2012	"Calentura" (featuring Tego Calderón & Zully Murillo)[19]	Record of the Year	Nominated
	Eso Es Lo Que Hay[19]	Album of the Year	Nominated
	Eso Es Lo Que Hay[20]	Best Alternative Music Album	Nominated
2014	"El Mar de Sus Ojos" (featuring Carlos Vives)	Record of the Year	Nominated
2015	"El Mismo"	Best Tropical Fusion Album	Won

Premios Nuestra Tierra

A Premio Nuestra Tierra is an accolade that recognizes outstanding achievement in the Colombian music industry. ChocQuibTown has been nominated six times and received four awards.^[21]

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2011	ChocQuibTown	Best Artist of the Year	Nominated
2011	"De Donde Vengo Yo"	Best Urban Interpretation of the Year	Won
2011	ChocQuibTown	Best Urban Solo Artist or Group of the Year	Won
2011	"De Donde Vengo Yo"	Best Folk Interpretation of the Year	Won
2014	Behind the Machine	Album of the Year	Nominated
2011	"Uh La La"	Best Alternative Performance	Won

Premios Shock (Colombia)

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2010	ChocQuibTown[22]	Best Group of the Year	Won
2010	Goyo (for Oro)[22]	Voice of the Year	Won
2011	ChocQuibTown[23]	Artist of the Year	Won

Premios Lo Nuestro (Americas)

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2011	"De Donde Vengo Yo"[24]	Best Video	Nominated

References

1. López González, Alejandra (4 April 2011). "Reportaje: Los 'rap stars' de Condoto". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
2. Calle, Simón (21 July 2009). "The Nat Geo Music Interview: Choc Quib Town". Nat Geo Music. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
3. "'El Pacífico quería oírse': 'Goyo'". El Espectador (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
4. "Tostao y Goyo ahora son marido y mujer". Territorio Chocoano (in Spanish). Quibdó, Colombia. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
5. "Goyo, de Chocquibtown está embarazada". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
6. "Oro by ChocQuibTown". iTunes Store US. Apple. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
7. "Eso Es Lo Que Hay by ChocQuibTown". iTunes Store US. Apple. Archived from the original on June 18, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
8. "El Mismo de ChocQuibTown". iTunes Store COL. Apple. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
9. "Behind the Machine by ChocQuibTown". iTunes Store US. Apple. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
10. Songs of ChocQuibTown charted in National-Report:
    • "Hasta el Techo": "Top 10 Música Nacional Radio". National-Report (in Spanish). Radio y Música. 2012-09-24. Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
    • "El Mar de Sus Ojos": "Top 10 Música Nacional Radio". National-Report (in Spanish). Radio y Música. March 3, 2014. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
    • "Cuando Te Veo":
11. Latin Rhythm Airplay for ChocQuibTown. Billboard.com. February 20, 2014
12. • For "El Mar de Sus Ojos": "Carlos Vives (feat. ChocQuibTown) - El Mar de Sus Ojos (Hot Latin Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
13. • For "El Mar de Sus Ojos": "Carlos Vives (feat. ChocQuibTown) - El Mar de Sus Ojos (Latin Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
14. • For "El Mar de Sus Ojos": "Carlos Vives (feat. ChocQuibTown) - El Mar de Sus Ojos (Tropical Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
15. Songs of ChocQuibTown in Record Report Top 100:
    • "El Mar de Sus Ojos":"Top 100". Record Report. R.R. Digital C.A. 7 July 2014. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014.
16. "First-Time Nominees: ChocQuibTown". Grammy.com. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
17. "Chocquibtown no gana pero sí anima los Grammy anglo". El Espectador (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia. 13 February 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
18. Peláez, Isabel (11 November 2010). "Chocquibtown ganó grammy latino y brilló con su actuación en la ceremonia". El País (in Spanish). Cali, Colombia. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
19. XIII Latin Grammy Awards, Record of the Year. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
20. XIII Latin Grammy Awards, Best Alternative Music Album Archived March 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
21. Premios Nuestra Tierra received to ChocQuibtown:
    • Nuestra Tierra 2011:"Nominados a los Premios Nuestra Tierra 2014" (in Spanish). La Mega. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-12-01.
    • Nuestra Tierra nominees 2014:"Nominados a los Premios Nuestra Tierra 2014" (in Spanish). La Mega. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-12-01.
    • Nuestra Tierra winners 2014:"Premios Nuestra Tierra 2014: lista de ganadores" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2014-12-01.
22. "Premios Shock de la Música 2010: los ganadores" (in Spanish). Shock.com.co. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
23. "Los ganadores de los Premios Shock 2011" (in Spanish). Shock.com.co. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
24. "Shakira y Juanes, los colombianos más nominados a los premios Lo Nuestro" (in Spanish). Shock.com.co. 3 December 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2012.