Cepeda's analysis stands on its own strength, grounded in her explication of complex social contexts in which popular Colombian music is made and disseminated . . . She skillfully weaves analyses of race, gender, class, and nation and offers multiple readings of of singular texts or perfromances. - Hui Wilcox (Ethnic and Racial Studies) The book is a major contribution to studies of the production of Latin music in the United States and a significant intervention into debates about musical identities in an out of Columbia. - Keith Negus (Journal of Popular Music) A valuable contribution to Latino/a cultural studies. Cepedas book expands the traditional boundaries by focusing on Colombianos transnational identity through popular music. Cepedas sophisticated, critical, and compelling arguments locate popular music as an alternative to violence in the social imaginaries of and about Colombianos. Erudite, rigorously researched, and accessibly written. - Frances R. Aparicio,author of Listening to Salsa Using the lens of popular music to illuminate the aesthetics and identities of Colombian musicians and their fans within the United States, Maria Elena Cepedas Musical ImagiNation finally gives these & new Latinos, so long tainted by facile and stereotypical associations with drugs and violence, the thorough and respectful attention they deserve. A masterful and deft exposition that draws the threads of social history, media studies, transnational studies, and gender and critical discourse together. - Deborah Pacini Hernandez,Tufts University
