Orgullo De Barrio by GEKAH

Tropical Diaspora® Records is proud to present Alberto Gekah’s “Orgullo de barrio,” a potent dose of hip-hop emerging from the complex cultural crucible of the Canary Islands. This track is the vibrant result of a collaborative project, born from an original idea by PSJM with Asiria Álvarez and brought to life with the participation of the community in the Las Rehoyas neighborhood of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

The very essence of this release embodies the core mission of Tropical Diaspora Records: to amplify the voices from spaces of layered identity and historical flux. The Canary Islands themselves are a living archive of this diaspora. Geographically anchored in Africa, their history is a tapestry of conquest, colonization, and Spanish rule dating back to the fifteenth century—a history often erased by colonial authorities or internalized as an inevitable fate. Today, little is widely known about the islands' original Indigenous people, presumed to be related to the Berbers.

During the Spanish Empire, the archipelago served as a strategic stopover for galleons embarking to plunder the Americas, severing its organic African ties and weaving it into a narrative of European expansion. This artificially severed umbilical cord has created a modern anomaly: a land with a Spanish and European identity, yet distant from the continental mainland, both geographically and in its lived experience. Politically and economically divorced from Africa, the islands now confront their own contested past as they function as a tragic gateway to Europe for thousands of desperate African migrants, many of whom perish in the Atlantic depths.

It is within this tension—between a manufactured European present and a suppressed African past, between a tourist paradise and ecological threats from offshore mining—that the "Orgullo de barrio" (Neighbourhood Pride) finds its powerful voice. The track is more than music; it is a act of reclamation. By collaborating with the people of Las Rehoyas, the project taps into the grassroots energy of the barrio, asserting local pride and identity from the ground up. This is the sound of the tropical diaspora speaking back, challenging the euphemistic label of an EU "outermost region" and beginning the difficult work of restoring a connection that will take more than just words and wishful thinking.

Side A • Orgullo De Barrio

Lyrics, vocals, recording and mastering: Gekah
Instrumental: Anno Domini Nation
Side B • La Doña Y El Conserje

Lyrics, recording and mixing: Gekah
Instrumental and arrangements: Ghenprod

Orgullo de barrio. Desde Las Rehoyas para todos los barrios
A participatory art project by Cynthia Viera and Pablo San José (PSJM)
and developed by Gekah and Asiria Álvarez
in collaboration with the people of the neighbourhood of Las Rehoyas (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain).
Orgullo de barrio is a song by Gekah, the result of the participatory art project.
La doña y el conserje is a song by Gekah, previously unreleased.
Original Songs by Gekah. Music Production and Arrangements: Gekah.
Vinyl Executive Production and Conception: Tropical Diaspora® Records Est. Berlin.
Vinyl Cover Design and Layout: La Caja de Brillo/PSJM.
Poster Design and Layout: La Caja de Brillo/PSJM.
Photos by Asiria Álvarez.
Texts by PSJM and Tropical Diaspora® Records.
All Songs Published by Tropical Diaspora® Records under License.
® All Rights Reserved.

Disclaimer: The images shown are for illustration and mock-up purposes only and may not be an exact representation of the product.