In 2015, one egregiously awkward world event split Lido Pimienta's Colombian-Canadian duality right down the middle. A few minutes after Miss Colombia had already been presented the coveted crown and was wearing the sash emblazoned "Miss Universe," Colombians everywhere felt their blood boil when emcee Steve Harvey sheepishly admitted he misread the results: "I have to apologize... the first runner-up is Miss Colombia... the winner is Miss Philippines." The ensuing, sometimes racist, outrage of Colombians everywhere stirred up all kinds of sediment at the bottom of Pimienta's well: the uncomfortable teenage years when she felt like a runner-up next to a beauty queen of a sister, her love-hate relationship with Colombia and its political, economic and racial divides, including the anti-black racism that pervades much of Latin America. Pimienta created a whole new album to honour who the "weird artistic tomboy" of her teens had become: an Afro-Indigenous, queer feminist and Canadian outsider. Haunting a capella passages, cumbia grooves, lyrics that celebrate and skewer: Miss Colombia is a stunning, dynamic and ambitious musical affair - welcome to the winner's circle in Lido Pimienta's infinite, vibrant universe.
Biography by Chantal Vitalis