Embodying sound: body, territory, and community in the music of Mare Advertencia and Cynthia Montaño

Rap and urban music have become increasingly relevant in the study of alternative practices of art, activism, and resistance in Latin America. This article examines how Mare Advertencia Lirika (Zapotec) and Cynthia Montaño (Afro-Colombian) use rap to build community and women’s agency through staging Indigenous and Afro ancestral knowledge in Oaxaca, Mexico, and Cali, Colombia, respectively. Grounded on an analysis of their albums and the conduct of ethnographic work in Oaxaca and Cali, I contend that these artists’ rap art embodies alternative forms of Indigenous, Black, and grassroots expressions from a feminist community perspective. By embedding their work on ancestral knowledge, community practices, and an interwoven sense of cuerpo-territorio, both at the sound and lyrical levels, these artists challenge patriarchal, colonial, and capitalist violence. This study aims to understand better the intersections between music, women of color’s agency, and social movements in local/global scenarios.