Colombian Party Cartel
Colombian Party Cartel is a Latin music band based in Nashville, TN and Cali, Colombia. Formed in 2009, the group consists of vocalist/DJ/producer Carey James Balboa and DJ Leonardo Campo. They have contributed much to the growing Latin music scene in Nashville, TN, providing more opportunities for fans of Latin music to gather.
The group releases music as individual singles, rather than as a collection of tracks that make up a full album. This reflects the fast growing use of digital music download, and allows more freedom in writing and recording.
History
Formation
Carey James Balboa met Leonardo Campo in early 2009 at a party in Nashville, TN. Balboa had already been developing A Plan for a new event when he met DJ Leo from Cali, Colombia. The Two discovered they shared a deep love for Latin music and decided to pursue DJing Latin music parties in the city, naming them “En Fuego”. From there, they began hosting one of the largest monthly Latin music parties in the U.S. Southeast. The duo DJ’d a weekly Latin music FM radio show starting in February of 2010, lasting about a year, interviewing guests such as salsa singer and actor Michael Stuart, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and Angel & Khriz, and received shout-outs from Colombian hip-hop artists Choc Quib Town and Jiggy Drama, and Colombian reggaeton artist Yelsid for the show. This opened up communication with notable Latin artists and record labels. Soon, they were recording their own material with artists and producers from across the Americas.
La Murga De Colombia
The first single by CPC was “La Murga de Colombia”, a reggaeton track released in 2010 in which Balboa sampled and recorded a remake of the salsa classic “La Murga” by Willie Colón/Héctor Lavoe. It was recorded at the famous Quad Studio A in Nashville. This was their first attempt at making their own original content.
Chico Malo (feat. Jiggy Drama)
Colombian Party Cartel began taking songwriting and music production more seriously, creating a totally original track for their next single. Their second single was a merengue track, “Chico Malo”, which was recorded with Colombian urban artist Jiggy Drama. The single came into fruition after Colombian Party Cartel reached out to the president of El Ritmo, Jiggy Drama’s record label. Released in Spring of 2011, the track was included on El Ritmo Records hit mix-tape “Trasno-Show”, a Jiggy Drama mixtape. It was recorded at the famous Blackbird Studio D in Nashville by Latin Grammy winner David Hall, and was mixed by Shakira’s personal mix engineer Dave Clauss in NYC. The bass lines and keys were provided by professional studio/touring bass player David Santos and professional keyboard musician Rony Jay.
Intocable (feat. Shungu)
During an inspiring visit to San Andres, Colombia in the summer of 2011, Balboa co-wrote “Intocable”, Colombian Party Cartel’s third single, with island artist Shungu and his team. When Balboa landed on the island, he discovered how friendly the people were, met local artists and was connected with Shungu within a day.The song introduced newer musical genre ModeUp to many fans. Within three days, DJ Wahm produced and mixed the song in a tiny, beachfront home studio, and the video was recorded on the beach and in a local club.
Contigo O Sin Ti
Colombian Party Cartel is currently working on a fourth single, “Contigo o Sin Ti”, with Lenny Santos of bachata group Aventura. The song is a bachata version of Irish rock band U2’s 1987 hit “With or Without You” and will have lyrics in both English and Spanish. It is being produced by Dave Clauss and Aventura’s guitarist Lenny Santos.
Discography
- La Murga De Colombia (2010)
- Chico Malo (feat. Jiggy Drama) (2011)
- Intocable (feat. Shungu) (2011)