Rawayana: Tiny Desk Concert

https://www.npr.org/2023/09/19/ [login to see] /rawayana-tiny-desk-concert
No Venezuelan party is complete without tequeños. Whether it's a wedding or a baptism, the cheese-filled treats are a must-have at every snack table — so it makes sense Rawayana pulled up to "El Tiny" with a box to share.

Kicking things off with hits from the band's 2016 album, Trippy Caribbean, the Caracas-formed group brought its infectious energy and beach-infused sound to the NPR office. The reggae-groove that defined early songs soon turned into something more expansive, putting a Caraqueño spin on funk, merengue, rock and hip-hop. Rawayana's set — which included two singles from the forthcoming album, ¿Quién trae las cornetas? — perfectly illustrated how the band's sound stretches and plays off of musical movements from around the Caribbean diaspora to create something new altogether.

For more than a decade, Rawayana has been at the forefront of a younger generation of Venezuelan artists that grew up under the country's socioeconomic crisis. At its Tiny Desk performance, it showcased just how much talent has come out of Venezuela during that time — bringing friends and collaborators like Apache, Irepelusa, Orestes Gómez, Joel Martínez and Eric Chacón to perform — and how much joy and gozadera is still left in store.