Picó is transliteration in Spanish for “pick-up.” I initially thought it stood for the Chevrolet pick-up trucks in which they transport the massive sound system from one location to another, since the scene is something of an itinerant road show. But it comes from the vinyl turntable pick-up needle, introduced with the electronic phonograph that the early set-ups used.

Whoever collected exclusive and popular hit records, while being able to mix them artfully, decorate their sound system with signature designs, and pump up the volume on boot-knocking speakers, would be king of the block party in lower-income neighborhoods. One could say that a Picó is as much of a get-together or a party scene as a deeply entrenched celebration of the region’s trans-continental African heritage. Regions of Colombia that are of obvious Spanish descent unfortunately, often (or perhaps systematically) overlook this.

Read OkayAfrica article in full here. 

"It is a music genre as much it is a lifestyle"