The fluttering sound of the gaita flute is emblematic of the Afro-Colombian community along the Atlantic and Caribbean coast. On July 1, that sound reverberated across the National Mall as REBOLU took the stage at the 2022 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

The group, based in New York City, brought the music of the Black Atlantic to the D.C., performing songs off their new album from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, Mi Herencia (My Heritage). Gaita player and ensemble co-founder Ronald Polo wrote “Mi mulata” (My Mulatta) for his eldest daughter and bandmate, Isabella, in the form of a chalupa, a faster variant of cumbia with call-and-response vocal melodies.

On the day you were born
(Look, Mulatta)
The day turned blue
And your mother suffered
Her newborn smiled

Oh Mulatta, my life
Talented, day and night
I love you, my queen

You look so much alike
It makes me melancholic
Your mother’s beauty
I drowned myself in melody

Oh Mulatta, my life
Talented, day and night
I love you, my queen
Oh Mulatta, in life

Watch the full concert, also featuring Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East. Find REBOLU online and their new album on Smithsonian Folkways.

Lyric translation by Tia Merroto.