VOA文化艺术2023--Peruvian Singer Aims to Introduce ‘Q-pop’

Peruvian Singer Aims to Introduce ‘Q-pop’

Lenin Tamayo is named after the leader of the Russian Revolution, Vladimir Lenin. But he wants to revolutionize Peruvian popular music.

Tamayo aims to create popular music similar to South Korean K-pop songs, but he is using Quechua, the language of the Incas.

The Incas were the people who ruled western South America before the arrival of Spanish explorers.

Tamayo grew up speaking Quechua at his home in Lima.

His music mixes beats from Korean songs with folklore¹ from the Andes Mountain area and traditional Peruvian sounds. It appears to be popular. Tamayo has received at least 4 million "hearts" on the video social media service TikTok.

Twenty-three-year-old Tamayo is not so concerned with how many people listen on social media. Instead, he hopes to bring attention to discrimination and the importance of Peru's past and those he claims as his ancestors.

He told Reuters: "My music had to embrace my origins strongly."

The young singer observed that the voice was very important to the people of the Andes, calling it a "primordial² sound." And he added "the voice goes hand in hand with the language," noting that Quechua is what will define³ his sound.

Quechua is spoken by about 10 million people in South America. It is the most widely used native language there. It is spoken not only in Peru but also in parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador.

In school, Tamayo began listening to Korean popular music, or K-pop, which started being popularized internationally by the group BTS about 10 years ago.

Study of Korean culture became a way for the young singer to make like-minded friends and to deal with bullying⁶ that he said he faced because of his appearance.

Tamayo told Reuters that he saw young girls listening to K-pop and watching Korean TV dramas. By trying to make friends, he thought he could get closer to Korean culture, he said.

The result is a musical mixture that people on the internet have called "Q-pop."

Tamayo's first album, Amaru, was released this month. Each song is based on Incan mythology⁷. Ideas include Kay Pacha, or the living world; Uku Pacha, or the world of the dead; and Hanan Pacha, the heavenly kingdom. On stage, Tamayo dances and looks like a Korean male performer. But the sound of the music is based on traditional instruments from the Peruvian mountains.

Fans who recently attended a Lenin Tamayo performance were happy to take selfies and talk about the new artist. Gabriel Castro spoke⁴ to Reuters about it. He said the new music "helps raise awareness⁸ among all our people, all our new generations and the older ones too, who are part of Peru."

Words in This Story

embrace –v. to accept something readily⁹ and gladly

origin –n. to beginnings or the roots of something; a person's ancestry¹⁰

folklore –n. traditional customs, beliefs and stories

primordial –adj. existing from very early or even prehistoric¹¹ times

bully⁵ –v. to cause someone to be unhappy or fearful by making threats and insults

mythology –n. ideas, stories and beliefs from the distant past that are still expressed in writing

 

selfies –n. (pl.) pictures taken of oneself on a smartphone

1 folklore   

n.民间信仰，民间传说，民俗

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• In Chinese folklore the bat is an emblem of good fortune.在中国的民间传说中蝙蝠是好运的象征。

2 primordial   

adj.原始的；最初的

参考例句：

• It is the primordial force that propels us forward.它是推动我们前进的原始动力。
• The Neanderthal Man is one of our primordial ancestors.的尼安德特人是我们的原始祖先之一.

3 define   

vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定

参考例句：

• Please define the words.请解释这些字的意义。
• It's hard to define exactly what has changed.很难解释清楚到底发生了什么变化。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

6 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 readily   

adv.欣然地，容易地，很快地，立即

参考例句：

• I promise all costs will be readily returned.我保证所有的费用会迅速偿还。
• Most plastics do not readily conduct heat or electricity.大多数塑料不易传热或导电。

10 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

11 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。