Las Cafeteras

Born and raised in East Los Angeles, the musicians of Las Cafeteras fashion a patchwork quilt of “urgent, relevant music” with infectious live performances. 

The contemporary Chicano troubadours mix roots music with Afro-Mexican rhythms and powerful rhymes for a “uniquely Angeleno mishmash of punk, hip-hop, beat music, cumbia, and rock” (Los Angeles Times). 

The artists have performed with Mexican musical icons Café Tacuba and Lila Downs; Columbian singer Juanes; hip-hop artist Common; and West Coast legends Ozomatli, Los Lobos, and the LA Phil. The group also has performed for Seattle radio station’s popular web series Live on KEXP, and at festivals such as Bonnaroo and Monterey Jazz. 

Las Cafeteras is known for its protest songs and use of traditional instruments to connect cultures and generations. With songs dedicated to United States “Dreamers,” undocumented migrants, and indigenous people being pushed off their land, “Las Cafeteras sing in five distinct languages: English, Spanish, Spanglish, love, and justice,” the band proclaims.