HUMBOLDT PARK — Social media has been kind to Bomba con Buya.
The traditional Afro-Puerto Rican music group was recorded playing a high-energy set on a Blue Line train in a video that went viral in 2014.
The momentum, and beat, hasn't slowed since then.
"We've had a lot of great opportunities because people who normally don’t get to see us got to see us," co-director Roberto Pérez said. "It's been a great blessing."
The spread of Buya's music online has also earned them fans in tough-to-impress Puerto Rico, where the group went on a mini-tour in May.
On Saturday, they'll be the guests of honor at the Puerto Rican People's Day Parade and Festival, leading the procession on the front float.
Bomba con Buya practices at La Casita de Don Pedro, 2625 W. Division St. in Humboldt Park. [DNAinfo/Kyla Gardner]
Bomba music, which has been traditional to Puerto Rico since the late 18th century, is a blend of African and Puerto Rican culture and features call-and-response singing, strong drum bass rhythms and a collaborative give-and-take between dancers and percussionists.
Buya isn't interested in bringing "fusion or confusion" to the genre, said Teofilo "Piro" Lopez, a singer, dancer and the group's other co-director. Pérez described the band as "purists to the bone."
That they've gotten such a warm reception in Puerto Rico itself means a lot to the group, Pérez said.
"People may question, 'How Puerto Rican are you if you weren't born there?' But Buya has beaten the odds and the stereotypes of what a group from the diaspora sounds like," he said. "Last time we went there, there was a lot of love, a lot of encouragement."
A lot of the history of Bomba was passed down through generations orally, so researching rhythms and songs for the group can be difficult at times, Lopez said.
A lot of history has been lost: "You have rhythms that have gone extinct, probably songs that are no longer around," he said. "Every day we’re learning something new about the actual genre."
"We have to dig sometimes," Pérez said. "Books that may just have a paragraph about Bomba — you take what you can get."
Special to the music style is its inclusiveness. Pérez and Lopez agreed that though they've played on bills with some great musicians in the band's five years, the best shows have been those in the community, not on a stage.
"Dancing is something that can be elegant. It can be very emotional, spiritual at times. It's always a different experience," Lopez said. "It's awesome, it's all-inclusive."
That's what got train passengers up and dancing in their viral video, Pérez said.
"Because it's this car that’s enclosed, the energy couldn’t go anywhere. The train was full, it didn’t stop, it didn’t open ... People who didn’t know each other just started dancing with each other, who didn’t speak the same language," he said. "Everybody had their cameras out and it was one of those good things, a real feel-good moment."
This video of Bomba con Buya playing on the Blue Line went viral in 2014. [YouTube/Buya Espiritu Bueno]
Find more of those feel-good moments — and Buya's signature get-up-and-dance energy — on Saturday.
The parade begins at 2 p.m. on Division Street from Western to Sacramento avenues.
"We were asked to play on stage, but it's going to be open so people can join," Pérez said. "As purists, we try to keep it that way, where it's community-based."
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