Yeison Jiménez . . . Con el corazón!
Música popular began as a fusion of Mexican rancheras with Colombian carrilera music in the coffee-growing region of Colombia in the 1930s and 1940s. Música popular es música de despecho. I’ve been exposed more to the Mexican influences of this genre growing up in USA, and with many música popular songs, I picture a lonely man sitting in a dim cantina at 3 AM trying to get over a breakup after 10 tequila shots.
Música popular grew in popularity in Colombia slowly. At first, it was only popular in small pueblos in Colombia, and it was seen as music firmly for the lower class members of society. Artists like Darío Gomez, El Charrito Negro, and Luis Alberto Posada helped make the genre more nationally popular beginning in the 1970s when their songs made it to the radio. But the genre’s popularity stalled out in the early 2000s because its famous singers were aging, and new, younger música popular singers were few and far between.
Artist Pipe Bueno is credited with leading the push to repopularize the genre in the late 2000s/early 2010s, paving the way for other musicians like Yeison Jiménez.
Yeison released his first song in 2013, and across the course of his career, he wrote and recorded 70 songs. He sold out Bogotá’s Movistar Arena three nights in a row in 2024. He also sold out El Campín stadium in Bogotá in 2025. When news of Yeison’s death broke, artists like Carlos Vives and Fonseca posted tributes on social media. But I had never heard of him. My dad had never heard of him, and my mom had only heard of one of his songs, Aventurero. The family Whatsapp group was silent, when usually mi abuelita is always on top of breaking the latest news and prayer chains to the family. Who was Yeison and why did my favorite artists know of him but I didn’t?
Colombia is an extremely socioeconomically divided country, and I grew up seeing my immediate and extended family taking great pains to show we weren’t part of the lower class. I think I hadn’t heard Yeison’s music because my family would hate to be seen listening to music made “for the masses.” So this week, I spent time listening to Yeison’s music and music by other música popular artists like Jessi Uribe and Paola Jara. I also learned about the origin and evolution of música popular generally. It’s unfortunate it took Yeison’s death for me to learn of him, but I am happy he unlocked a whole new genre of Colombian music for me to explore and add to my list of go-to songs.
My favorite Yeison Jiménez songs are:
- Guaro (with Pipe Bueno and Jessi Uribe)
- Hasta La Madre
- Aventurero
- Como No Voy a Decirlo (with Luis Silva)
On January 14, 2026, fans gathered at Movistar Arena for a free concert honoring Yeison’s life. Pipe Bueno, Henao Alzate, Paola Jara, and other musicians sang songs they had collaborated with Yeison on. Yeison’s mother and his daughter also spoke to fans about the legacy on the Colombian music scene that Yeison left.