On marijuana famine to Nobel Prize in Literature: marijuana boom and vallenato Music in colombian Caribbean (1976-1985)

Abstract

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Colombian Caribbean became the largest supplier of
marijuana to the United States. The business, which became known as the Bonanza Marimbera
(Marijuana Boom), would bring with it the emergence of a group of men known as marimberos who,
coming from the underclass, would gain widespread renown as the main players in the marijuana
trade as a result of the large sums of money they made. In addition to becoming notorious for their
extravagant spending, they would become patrons of different vallenato artists, allowing them
to gain greater prestige. This paper explores the mark of the marimberos in vallenato using the
greetings and animations in the songs as a main source. Thus, it shows how vallenato became the
most important genre in Colombia beyond governmental and state support.