Video: Doctor Nativo “Guatemaya”

<p>I’ve been stewing on this Doctor Nativo album for a couple of weeks, trying to work out a full-on review but I feel like it can all be summed up pretty quickly: The Guatemalan musician’s <a href="http://www.stonetreerecords.com/" target="_blank">debut on Stonetree Records</a> is full of acoustic and indigenous instrumentation and rootsy songs inflected with hip-hop, cumbia and reggae. It’s catchy, creative and singular. I’ve happily listened to it three times in a row.</p> <p>With that out of the way, check out the video for the title track: </p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C5bdRjlgqYk" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe> </p> <p>Right? It’s all that catchy. </p> <p>Doctor Nativo grew up in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. His father, Arturo Martinez, was assassinated in 1990, and Nativo took to life as a traveling musician, busking through India, Europe, Cuba and elsewhere. After a stint in Barcelona, he returned to Guatemala and took place in his first Mayan ceremony. Inspiration flowing, he recorded in Belize with <a href="http://www.stonetreerecords.com/" target="_blank">Stonetree Records</a> founder Ivan Duran. </p> <p>Duran recalls the impression these songs made right from the get-go: “His songs struck me like instant Polaroid pictures into the soul of a young and proud indigenous generation that had finally woken up in Guatemala. I remember thinking, ‘There’s hope! The resistance is not dead!’” </p>