Lido Pimienta’s Music: A Love Letter to Black and Afro-Latinas and a Middle Finger to Whitewashed Standards

We’ve covered Pimienta’s activist work, and we’ve even mentioned her in a couple of playlists and recommendations but what we haven’t discussed is why her work is so important to our community. Racism isn’t a new thing, but certainly, it isn’t talked about enough in the Latinx community. Her hit album Miss Colombia is like a love letter, but not so romantic, and a big fuck you to whitewashed standards.

Lido is a Black Colombian woman of African and Indigenous Wayuu descent who has used her roots to create music that reflects her relationship with her identity and how the world perceives her. Her last album is, in a way, a love letter to Colombia and how she found her own feelings and experiences with a different eye after moving to Canada.

Each song depicts different shades of the Afro-Colombian experience; the pain that is rooted in women, how much they carry, and how strong they are. She touches on how your perception of beauty changes once you start decolonizing your perception, and how even though the Latinx community is diverse, we still struggle with discrimination. She even sheds a light on talented musicians who harmonized with Afro sounds proudly.

Her visuals are a reflection of all her heritage has left her – bright colors, loud dresses and big braids scream “I’m proud of who I am and what makes me, me”. Pimiento chooses each piece to ensure her cultural background is represented; she knows that living in her own skin is its own fight and walks proudly.

Her work brings much-needed representation for Black and Afro-Latinas who are often overlooked. She shows all the rage there is, all the racism she’s lived, and all that Colombia lacked to give her as a woman of color. It’s music to the ears and the souls of all who have hated themselves hated what their country did to them, and want to own who they are.

Pimiento’s latest Album Miss Colombia is available for purchase and download at Lido Pimienta – Miss Colombia (ffm.to)