Colombia's 96-Year-Old, Crowdfunded Pop Star
Colombia's 96-Year-Old, Crowdfunded Pop Star
By
Joe Parkin Daniels
For decades, Magín Díaz's musical influence went unrecognized. Now, Grammy nominations in hand, he's making up for lost time.
This article is adapted from AQ's print issue on peace and economic opportunity in Colombia.
Magín Díaz isn’t a name most Colombians are familiar with, but his influence in the country’s lush Caribbean coast is everywhere — in the rhythms of its dance clubs, the sounds of carnival, and the songs of workers laboring in the cane fields.
“Music is my life,” said Díaz. “It’s how I fly.”
Illiterate, poor, and of African descent, Díaz spent decades composing traditional Colombian...
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