# The 7 Best Cumbia Tracks of All Time

Colombia's Caribbean coast: Indigenous gaita flutes over African drums, later scored for big band and exported down the whole continent until Peru, Mexico and Argentina each had a cumbia of their own.

- **Origin:** Colombia's Caribbean coast, 1850
- **Tempo:** 80–110 BPM
- **Also known as:** cumbia colombiana, cumbia villera, porro, tropical
- **Tracks:** 7
- **Updated:** 2026-08-30
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/cumbia/

## The list

### 1. [Wilson Choperena and Juan Madera](https://waxonia.com/artist/wilson-choperena-and-juan-madera/) — [La Pollera Colorá](https://waxonia.com/track/wilson-choperena-and-juan-madera--la-pollera-colora/)

*1960*

Effectively Colombia's second national anthem. A clarinet figure, a red skirt, and a melody that has survived being played at every wedding in the country for sixty years.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Wilson%20Choperena%20and%20Juan%20Madera%20La%20Pollera%20Color%C3%A1) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=NcwQJqab-cM)

### 2. [Lucho Bermúdez](https://waxonia.com/artist/lucho-bermudez/) — [Colombia Tierra Querida](https://waxonia.com/track/lucho-bermudez--colombia-tierra-querida/)

*1970 · CBS*

Bermúdez took coastal cumbia, scored it for a full orchestra and put it in the ballrooms of Bogotá and Buenos Aires. The record that made it national rather than regional.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Lucho%20Berm%C3%BAdez%20Colombia%20Tierra%20Querida) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PwPNMEFLdUE)

### 3. [Los Corraleros de Majagual](https://waxonia.com/artist/los-corraleros-de-majagual/) — [Cumbia Cienaguera](https://waxonia.com/track/los-corraleros-de-majagual--cumbia-cienaguera/)

*1962 · Discos Fuentes*

The Discos Fuentes supergroup, with accordion and brass fighting for the same space. Rowdier than Bermúdez and much closer to how the music sounded outdoors.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Los%20Corraleros%20de%20Majagual%20Cumbia%20Cienaguera) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=OWCOVeE76BM)

### 4. [José Barros](https://waxonia.com/artist/jose-barros/) — [La Piragua](https://waxonia.com/track/jose-barros--la-piragua/)

*1969*

A boat, a river and a man remembering both. Barros wrote it about the Magdalena, and it is the most literary lyric the form has.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Jos%C3%A9%20Barros%20La%20Piragua) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji_Wm_elSko)

### 5. [Totó la Momposina](https://waxonia.com/artist/toto-la-momposina/) — [Curura](https://waxonia.com/track/toto-la-momposina--curura/)

*1993 · Real World*

Totó spent decades insisting cumbia's centre was the drums and the gaitas, not the orchestra. Recorded in London, and the least polished record on this list by design.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Tot%C3%B3%20la%20Momposina%20Curura) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PXsWLjDglNo)

### 6. [Los Hijos del Sol](https://waxonia.com/artist/los-hijos-del-sol/) — [Cariñito](https://waxonia.com/track/los-hijos-del-sol--carinito/)

*1978*

Peruvian cumbia — electric guitars, a Farfisa organ, Amazonian melody. Proof the form mutated the moment it crossed a border, every time.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Los%20Hijos%20del%20Sol%20Cari%C3%B1ito) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wir8Af--SHY)

### 7. [Sonora Carruseles](https://waxonia.com/artist/sonora-carruseles/) — [Micaela](https://waxonia.com/track/sonora-carruseles--micaela/)

*1998 · Discos Fuentes*

Late, loud and unashamedly for dancing. Included because cumbia is a living commercial music, not a heritage exhibit, and this is what it sounds like working.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Sonora%20Carruseles%20Micaela) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MG95ZV__0LM)

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