He’s Peruvian, his name is Lenin after the leader of the Russian Revolution, he sings in Quechua, the language of the Incas, and his looks resemble South Korean K-pop stars. In the essence of Lenin Tamayo Pinares, the energies of three continents unite, although this uniqueness is not always received with respect on social networks, that world with which he maintains a love-hate relationship but which has finally managed to make itself his performances and their music gets into the eyes and ears of the audience. With such an impact that they decided to give him thousands of virtual hearts on Tik Tok, that’s how support is measured in these times. Collect more than four million “likes” on his official account.
From a rooftop overlooking several unmarked walls of surrounding buildings in the Comas district, north of Lima, Lenin speaks about his project with the wisdom of a veteran: At 23, he is not concerned with dealing with scale, but with creating a community of people to cultivate followers; his claim is not to achieve fame but to leave a legacy; but above all it is meant to be a source of inspiration and hope for those who have been discriminated against and still cannot find their way. “The artist not only sings or masters instruments, he also has the power to move the conscience. Even more so when you’re doing it to assert your identity in an unequal and unfair country,” she says, running her fingers through her straight hair.
This place, where four cats take a nap, has become Lenin’s new home. Almost three months ago, he moved with three other musician friends to create his first album, which will be called Amaru (snake). Two of them, Nael and Rutti, are editing one of the songs in the recording room. A few steps further, Yolanda Pinares, Lenin’s mother, a well-known folk singer who records everything from a tablet, credits her boy in every interview with the words that it is “his great school”.
And he’s right: Before founding an Andean offshoot of South Korean K-pop, Lenin was growing up behind the scenes. Yolanda breastfed him before leaving to sing. This early approach shaped his future. Since then, music has been his womb and his oxygen. At home you could hear anything from the Alborada group to Mercedes Sosa driving through the Kjarkas. To this base Lenin over time added the sounds of his time: the beginning of anime (his favorite is Digimon), the melodic pop of Girls’ Generation, the worldwide phenomenon of BTS and more recently the insouciance of Rosalía. The result, dubbed Q-Pop by netizens, is just a few clicks away.
Lenin Tamayo in a painting by the artist. With kind approval
Although born in Lima, Lenin never had to learn Quechua. It was part of your existence. Yolanda, who was born in Cusco and lived in Abancay for a long time, has spoken to him in the Tahuantinsuyo language since he was a child. It’s one of the strongest bonds in their relationship: if they want to bring up a personal topic or even just joke, they do it in Quechua. The customs continued at school: they sent him cancha, beans or tarwi in the lunch box. All food that grows between the mountains and rivers of the Peruvian highlands.
That’s why Lenin used to be laughed at. Usually it does not fit in the coast and even more so in the capital, which preserves its Andinidad. Oh, for those who rebel against the tide. But Lenin had a second issue for which he was not treated well by his companions: his physique. His slender face, powerful jaw, keen eyes, bushy eyebrows, and wafer-thin body. Oddly enough, the qualities he was rejected for are the ones that now elicit sympathy from his audience.
After winning a competition at the psychology department at his place of study, the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lenin decided to devote himself entirely to the creation of sounds. In fact, he thinks he’s pursuing his career through his music. “Besides my first album, I am preparing a thesis. I want to showcase it with the album,” he says, showing me his progress from his tablet. His research has six chapters and two tentative names: “Psychosocial exploration in contemporary Andean music as a vehicle for change and empowerment in minority struggles” or, in any case, “Amaru, sound fusions for social transformation: a psychosocial analysis”. Influence of Andean Music on the Collective Consciousness”.
“Amaru” will be an album with twelve unreleased songs, but they will split it into three EPs with four songs each. Each of them will be anchored in a plane of Inca mythology: Kay Pacha (the world of the living), Uku Pacha (the world of the dead), and Hanan Pacha (the heavenly kingdom). Amaru is a free adaptation of various Andean myths and legends. The musical background consists of textures of zampoña, charango, pututos, chajchas and rain. The weight of the voice and the dance will fall on Lenin. You have to hear him live as he draws the words in Quechua and dances like another South Korean dressed in colorful looms. Next week he will travel to Cusco with his team and members of a film school to record the first video clips for the album.
Lenin is a self-governing artist in the midst of a precarious industry. He has edited his first video clips – the first being “Tusurikusun” (When I’m Here) in January 2020 – he has created his own choreographies and also designed his wardrobe, which usually consists of mountain patches and accessories. It was presented in four cities in Peru: Cusco, Trujillo, Arequipa and Lima. But he yearns to perform frequently and to be “a stage performer and not just a studio performer,” as advised by his mother Yolanda, who gave birth to him when he was six months and four days old. He spent the first three months of his life in the incubator. Anyone who is born with a kilo and 800 grams has fought for survival. But the struggle for Lenin goes on: to transcend in music and not be a migratory bird. He wins: He is the creator of Q-Pop.
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