A World That Fuels Music With Soul
Image Courtesy of VIBE and Billboard
They’re music for the soul.
You don’t know their name, their lyrics, or the genre. But you close your eyes, and it makes you feel like there is an easy solution to life’s problems. Things aren’t as big as they seem anymore; the deep conversations hide themselves behind a melody. You take a chance on something new, let music touch something deeper in you, leading to a new perspective, a new world. That’s what happens when you press play for Cultura Profética.
A few months back, I was in my room listening to stories, memorable moments, and the most vivid description of Guatemalan beauty from my friend’s trip. Hearing her talk about it made me wonder what it would feel like to experience life somewhere completely different. What’s life if you don’t take the chance to step outside everything you know and see the world differently? She came back with memories, a new perspective, and, somewhere in the mix, Cultura Profética. Eager to experience a little bit of her trip I pressed play, and that was the first time I heard them. For a few minutes, I wasn’t thinking. I was somewhere else. Maybe that’s what traveling was supposed to feel like.
They have this line: “Sunrise doesn’t last all morning, a cloudburst doesn’t last all day.” It’s one of those things you’re not supposed to overthink, just let it sit with you. The good won’t last, just like the bad. Just gotta keep it moving. At the same time, you can say everything will be alright. Sound familiar?
It all started in 1996, when founding members Boris Bilbraut, Willy Rodríguez, Eliut González, Juan Costa, and Iván Gutiérrez united with a shared interest in the one and only Bob Marley, marking the beginning of what would later be named Cultura Profética. Imagine being a cover band one day, and the next, you’re recording at Tuff Gong Studios. Let’s rephrase that: you are the first Hispanic artist to record a reggae album at Tuff Gong Studios. Now that’s new to the ears.
Even when the reggae scene didn’t quite flow, the group had listeners turning their heads and thinking, “What is this?”For some, the unfamiliar sound sparked curiosity. For others, it became an introduction to a new era of reggae. They were influenced by Bob Marley, but they didn’t simply reproduce what they heard. They took reggae and filtered it through the sounds, history, and identity of the Caribbean. Salsa and jazz found their way into their music, while their lyrics spoke to sustainable development, social justice, and the struggles of Latin American and Caribbean people. It sounds like reggae, but it feels Puerto Rican. Maybe that’s what makes their music so powerful. They took a chance on something new, just like they asked their listeners to do. They didn’t have to leave their culture at the door to enter a genre that came from somewhere else. They brought their culture with them.
The writing matters probably more than the melody, not always true, but for them, it is. From the outside, every song is a love song, yet it’s not about romance. It’s about LOVE. The greatest message of them all. Love sets you free, elevates you, purifies your soul.
Maybe that’s why I love listening to music alone. My love is spending time by myself, taking long showers while blasting music I wish I wrote, and reading books to fuel my inspiration when writing music. Give me a long shower, a book waiting beside me, and music loud enough to drown out every other thought, and I’m exactly where I want to be. I remember pressing play on Cultura Profética and feeling that shift happen. For a few minutes, I wasn’t stressed about life. I wasn’t thinking about where I needed to be or what came next. I was somewhere else.
