Cimafunk

Cimafunk is the recording and performing alter ego of composer, singer, and producer Erik Alejandro Iglesias Rodríguez. As evidenced by Terapia, his 2017 debut long-player, his musical "mestizaje" (miscegenation) blends Cuban and Caribbean sounds both ancient and present with Afro-Latin rhythms including salsa, guaguancó, urban rhumba, nueva trova, timba, and Santeria ritual music -- alongside modern funk, soul, pop, hip-hop, and EDM. His lyrics come directly from Havana's street culture. The first half of Rodríguez's stage name is derived from the Spanish word "cimarron." It refers to Colonial-era runaway slaves who found refuge in Cuba's remote mountain communities with other ex-slaves. These regions fostered new forms of cultural expression in art, theater, writing, and of course, music. In 2021, Cimafunk issued his sophomore full-length, El Alimento.