In Medellin, young lads often get on the busses with their boom boxes and perform a rap for their captive audience. A friend of mine calls them urban prophets and their critique of modern life is often sharp and moving.
But one day, a rapper got and said he was going to do something a bit different.
What he did was recite an old poem, a kind of melodramatic ballad about love, betrayal and death, over the backing of some classical piano music – maybe Chopin – that he had found on YouTube.
The result was the the most mesmerizing three-minute experience. The combination of words and music created a dramatic, tension-filled atmosphere and you could almost forget you were jolting along on a bus.
Welcome to Colombia, where the hustlers on the busses are artists at heart.
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