The diversity in musical expressions found in Colombia can be seen as the result of a mixture of Amerindian, African, and European (especially Spanish) influences, as well as more modern American.

Colombian music is promoted mainly by the support of the largest record labels, independent companies and the Government of Colombia, through the Ministry of Culture.

In the United States, an Afro- Colombian band based in New York called Grupo Rebolu, performs a variety of Afro-Colombian rhythms with authentic instruments such as Tambora and Tambor Alegre.

Unlike most of the country, cultural mixing with native and European influences have been rare, and, especially in El Chocó, music has changed little since being imported from West Africa.

Vallenato has spawned several subgenres, including vallenato-protesta, which is known for socially aware lyrics, and charanga vallenata, which was invented by Cubans in the United States like progenitor Roberto Torres.

It is not clear the origins of this style, many specialists agree that it has some components of Spanish folk music, while others believe it has a typical rhythm which was inherited from the Quechua or Chibchas.

Artists include Estudiantina, Los Carranguerros de Raquira, Jaime Llano González, Jorge Villamil, and the Morales Pino Trío.

Some of the most prolific composers in the genre are Jairo Varela and Nino Caicedo whose compositions have been recorded by Grupo Niche and Orquesta Guayacán respectively.

Several Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians who have established in Colombia, such as Diego Valdés and Israel Tanenbaum, have collaborated with Colombians in salsa projects.

Colombian dancers have become World Champions year after year and the style is becoming more popular and admired among Salsa professionals worldwide; with two of the most prominent salsa schools being Swing Latino driven by the dance choreographer Eduardo 'El Mulato' Hernandez, and Constelación Latina driven by one of the world's most beloved dancers Jhoanna 'KKO' Agudelo.

Rock in Colombia gained great popularity during the 1980s with the arrival of bands such as Soda Stereo (Argentina), Los Prisioneros (Chile), and Hombres G (Spain).

Currently, Doctor Krápula, a rock band with strong ska influences that is known for making covers of traditional Latin American songs, enjoys great popularity.

"The band, made up of front woman Andrea Echeverri and bassist/producer Hector Buitrago, mixes punk, surf guitar and ska with folky Colombian styles such as vallenato, a bouncy, accordion-heavy genre".

SOUNDACITY[9] performs a mix of Brit rock, pop and Andean sounds, rhythms and instrumentation, sing both in English and Spanish and have toured the United States east coast.

But, possibly, the most successful "indie" band is Sidestepper, with its fusion of Colombian traditional music, electronic and African rhythms, who already appeared in Coachella Festival in 2006.

Some musical groups in the death metal genre are the world-famous Internal Suffering, Carnivore Diprosopus, Goretrade, Mindly Rotten, Suppuration, and Amputated Genitals.

Miguel Fernando Trapezaris, the bassist of Cyprus-based Epic power metal band Winter's Verge, is of Colombian descent.

After the success of her album Pies Descalzos in 1995, Shakira began working with producer Emilio Estefan Jr. and recorded Dónde Están los Ladrones?, which sold millions worldwide.

[10] Showing all her talent, after her MTV Unplugged presentation, Shakira went on to make an English album Laundry Service which debuted at #3 in the Billboard Charts of the USA.

Maía, born in the same port city as Shakira, Barranquilla, is a trilingual artist who has topped the charts with several international hits including Niña Bonita, Se Me Acabó El Amor, and Ingenuidad.

Ilona, a native of Colombia's capital city, Bogotá, cut her teeth singing in the public transport bus service at the age of 15.

She has released two full-length studio albums including Desde Mi Ventana and the Latin Grammy Award nominated Allá en el Sur.

Carlos Vives, a singer from the coastal city of Santa Marta, is famous for fusing classic vallenato sounds with rock and pop music.

He has collaborated with diverse international artists such as Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony and Daddy Yankee, as well as countrymen Sebastián Yatra, ChocQuibTown and Maluma.

[13] Other famous pop singers include artists such as Soraya, Anasol, Paula Arenas, Lucas Arnau, Marbelle, Ali Stone and more recently, Sebastián Yatra.

Hip Hop came to Colombia in the late 1980s when a few US Hip-Hop tracks by NWA and MC Hammer spurred a break-dancing fever among the young of the less privileged areas of major cities such as Medellín, Cali and Bogotá.

Promoting a very independent style, both groups expressed extreme political and social views, protesting violence, corruption, inequality and hardships in the marginalized regions of Colombia.

It is about this time that Reggaeton from Puerto Rico surges in popularity and Hip-Hop in Colombia takes a back seat for a while as artists try their hand at the new controversial sound.

Artist(s) such as Tres Pesos, J Balvin, Maluma, Reykon y Yelsid have established themselves in this genre and hits such as 'Baila (Negra de trasero grande)' by Leka el Poeta and the explixcitly worded 'La Quemona' and 'Micaela' by Master Boy take the country by storm.

Artists such as Voodoo Soul Jah, Nawal and Alerta Kamarada (Colombian representatives in the Jamaican Reggae festival) are currently spearheading this ever more popular genre in Colombia.