Sonido Pesao is a band dedicated to original Latin urban music and founded in Montreal thanks to the union of three rappers: Rila (from Peru), Lunatico (from Guatemala) and Chele (from El Salvador). “We played with samples and played with the instruments. At some point we got to be 12 on stage”, recalls Chele in a 2016 interview with Montreal Hispano. Previously known as Heavy Soundz, Sonido Pesao has assumed a full Latino identity with this new translated name.

The group’s compositions energetically mix urban music, rap, cumbia and electronic elements, all supported by rhythms in tune with dynamic Latin American cultures around the globe.  Chele observes, “There’s a really nice modern Latin music scene here in Montreal […] It’s due to the language, this mixture of French and Spanish, but it’s mostly because of the Montreal reality: here, there is such a variety of Latino cultures, musicians with roots in so many different countries, gathered together.”

Since the release of the 2011 album Tumba Parlantes, Sonido Pesao has traveled across Canada, spreading its love of cultures and contagious joie de vivre. Its 2016 album Reir Para No Llorar (Better to Laugh than Cry) was hailed as one of the best urban Latino recordings of the year. Todo Revuelto, the band’s latest (2020) recording, is another tour de force, melding cumbia nueva, reggaeton, hip-hop and electronica with a touch of ”old school”.