Jorge Celedón, Silvestre Dangond, Fanny Lu, y ChocQuibTown: estos álbumes colombianos cumplen 20 años en 2026

In 2006, Colombian music was undergoing a significant transformation. Genres that had been popular since the late ’90s, such as romantic vallenato and tropipop, dominated the radio, alongside hits from major artists like Shakira, Juanes, and Carlos Vives.

However, a new generation was quietly rising away from the spotlight. This involved groups innovating with Colombian folklore and musical traditions by merging them with more contemporary rhythms, primarily hip-hop and electronic music.

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This unique context led to what unfolded 20 years ago, with releases that defined that era and still resonate today as some of the greatest hits in Colombian music. Therefore, Infobae Colombia revisits some of the standout works from the country in 2006.

Long before the Me Too movement, from 2005 to 2007, a group of women emerged in Colombian radio with proposals that shared common elements while also allowing them to stand out.

Fanny Lu became the female face of tropipop with Lágrimas Cálidas, an album that blended vallenato accordion with catchy melodies, paving the way for her across the continent with hits like No te pido flores and Y si te digo.

In contrast, Naty Botero made her mark with a self-titled debut rich in visual aesthetics appealing to MTV at the time, leaning towards the pop-dance style of Belanova with Te Quiero Mucho as her most successful track.

Verónica Orozco surprised many by releasing a self-titled album alongside her acting career, exuding a more rebellious and assertive attitude, with Las Bragas becoming an unexpected hit in 2006.

At a time when the first voices of the “New Wave of Vallenato” were emerging, two of its leading figures experienced a peak in popularity.

The collaboration between Silvestre Dangond and Juancho de la Espriella produced La Fama, an album that saw hits like La miradita, Ahí, ahí, and Así no sirve play all over Colombia.

Another highly successful duet in vallenato at that time was Jorge Celedón with accordionist Jimmy Zambrano, who released Son… Para El Mundo, the work that catapulted ex-Binomio de Oro de América into international fame, starting with the single Esta Vida, one of his biggest hits. This production earned him a Latin Grammy for Best Cumbia/Vallenato Album.

2006 marked a turning point for the country’s sonic identity, as established artists sought to rethink their approach to songwriting and take more risks, distancing themselves from contemporary radio trends.

Initially, Héctor Buitrago, half of Aterciopelados, set an example with his solo project Conector I, blending contemporary music with indigenous mysticism and ecological awareness to create an atmospheric and collaborative sound.

Meanwhile, the Meridian Brothers challenged commercial logic with El Advenimiento del Castillo Mujer, a cutting-edge album that embraced sound experimentation and abstract humor, prompting listeners to question mainstream approaches to music creation.

Simultaneously, projects that celebrated the fusion of Colombian rhythms with contemporary styles began to take shape that year. Bomba Estéreo burst onto the scene with Vol. 1, a nearly artisanal effort where dub and electronic music merged with cumbia viscerally, drawing attention to Li Saumet’s voice despite the group being predominantly instrumental at the time.

In a similar vein of regional pride, ChocQuibTown released Somos Pacífico, a foundational album that utilized hip-hop to highlight the culture of Chocó, becoming a social and musical phenomenon with two of their most popular singles: De donde vengo yo and the titular Somos Pacífico.

Meanwhile, in Medellín, Puerto Candelaria introduced what their leader Juancho Valencia described as “Musical Magical Realism” with Llegó La Banda, a project that reinvented the wind band format with a technical sophistication reminiscent of jazz while embodying the playfulness of the tropics.

Guitars also played a significant role in 2006, with Aterciopelados setting the trend with Oye, which moved away from the electronic experiments of previous years to embrace the power of rock and social critique.

However, a defining moment for Colombian rock in 2006 was the recording and subsequent release of Kraken Filarmónico, a live album by heavy metal band Kraken featuring a selection of the band’s classics alongside the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra.