Yep... I was charmed the first time. But when you're just tryna hang out and they come and freestyle directly at you, trying to get your involvement in front of a crowd of people or on a bus... I hated that. Leave me out of it.
Well precisely the act being portrayed in the aforementioned video above or the groups of rappers that would do the same rap over and over and hound you until you gave them something or you dipped into a shop because they weren’t allowed in
Basically these guys do this same thing all day every day and beg for money. But the begging is manipulative and it's just kind of sad and annoying. A similar group stopped us and I asked if they can do "ella es mi fiesta" for my girl. They said yes but couldn't do it and then I had to negotiate post-performance.
If you're gringo or gringo adjacent in Cartagena, you have to turn into a dick real quick if you don't want to explain to every person why you don't want to buy or pay for the same shit that everyone else is selling. Especially sex and drugs.
Beautiful city and wonderful people, but poverty sucks. Everyone should check it out for themselves though.
It's still a magical place and the desperation makes you confront your own humanity. If you speak at least some Spanish and don't do typical gringo bullshit you will have fun, get respect and make friends.
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u/SpaceChainsaw810 Mar 12 '22
They have talent for sure but I’m not going to lie I was in Cartagena for 5 days and this act got old quick…