Who says you can’t be political and party at the same time? “La Revancha Del Burro” (“The Donkey’s Revenge”) is Systema Solar’s political call-to-arms and cumbia/EDM/hip-hop dance manifesto. Through 12 songs, the group from Colombia’s Caribbean region spread messages of resistance, activism and baile.

Systema Solar isn’t just a musical group. It’s a collective of artists, musicians and activists who create music and art with a purpose.

“It’s important that it’s more than just words in a song,” says Systema Solar member Juan Carlos Pellegrino.

“That’s why we have an NGO, with projects that come out of our songs. We do eco-housing, recycling, community radio and alternative schooling.”

One of those projects is the basis of the group’s first single, “La Rana.” The video was shot on location in Barranquilla and Santa Marta where the community of El Oasis resides. The residents there survive by recycling what they find in trash dumps. The video gives these residents a voice as part of a larger project called Mi Barrio Sin Basura (My Neighborhood Without Trash).

The video was directed by filmmaker and Systema member Vanessa Gocksch a.k.a. Pata De Perro. The VJ is mainly to blame for the creation of the collective. Years ago, she was working on a documentary about Colombian hip-hop at an event in Medellín and invited a group of individuals known for their work in various musical styles.

The dialogue went better than expected and resulted in the union of Gocksch, Pellegrino, Jhon Primera, Walter Hernandez, Daniel Broderick, Arturo Corpas and Andrés Gutiérrez as Systema Solar.

Other songs on the album, the group’s second, include “Machete,” “Antena,” and “Indio Guerrero.” “Machete” was originally written as a song of support for the campesinos of Colombia who use their machetes to clear their land of snakes. The song took on a larger metaphor when SS learned about the mass protests of farmers against a new government law forcing them to use government-approved, genetically modified seeds many, if not all, of which are owned by Monsanto.

“Colombia is a rural country and we have always been really affected by the regulation of the land, which has always served the powerful,” explains Pellegrino. “Just as we finished recording it, there were heavy strikes addressing the subject.”

The serious subject matter is balanced with traditional Colombian music mixed with modern hip-hop and electronic music that makes for an amazing blend the collective calls “verbenautika.” The name is a combination of “verbenas,” block parties in low-income neighborhoods and “nautica.”

The term perfectly encompasses Systema Solar’s mission of navigating through areas such as El Oasis in their home country and exposing their plight to everyone via infectious songs. They even got Debbie Harry of Blondie to lend her vocals on “Artificial.” The revolution has gone global!