Hip Hop al Puerto: 40 Years of Chilean Hip Hop
Written by Abigail Imas
Published on March 17th, 2026
It’s 1986 in Bombero Ossa, Santiago. Two boys wearing backward caps and ankle-high trainers drop into the camera shot of a deserted street. Another boy saunters across the screen and places a radio on the floor. Shot by shot, one boy spins on his back, another boy flips from a headstand, freezes, and the next boy moves in to top this move. In the background, others spray hip hop across a dilapidated wall.
In the cinema, Public Enemy’s Rightstarter (Message To A Black Man) vibrates around the room. Rodrigo Moreno, creator of Estrellas de la Esquina, has captured Chile’s first moments of hip hop culture. Now, it plays on a February evening in Insomnia Teatro Condell at Hip Hop al Puerto – a festival commemorating 40 years of Chilean hip hop.
Although Chile’s hip hop origins were influenced by US culture, Chilean hip hop took on a distinct form.
Although Chile’s hip hop origins were influenced by US culture, Chilean hip hop took on a distinct form. Hip hop emerged during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, a period characterized by political oppression. For the youth, hip hop was a way to show defiance against the Pinochet regime. They found a way to express freedom in the combination of DJing, MCing, breaking, and graffiti. These are the elements that form the pillars of hip hop.
However, the creators of Hip Hop al Puerto felt there was a missing element. “This festival is about getting together again, going back to the streets, and going back to creating together. The idea is to utilise all the, always-intersecting elements, and to especially enhance the fifth pillar of hip hop. That is knowledge.” says Carito Gonzalez, one of the festival organizers.
For four days in February 2026, there would be batallas (breaking battles), live graffiti, freestyle rap, talks, and memorabilia from Chile’s first generation of hip hop. All within the abandoned Mercado Puerto in Valparaíso. A historic building, bringing together economic and cultural activities. For these four days, the spiralling stairs would be raised seating for the crowds, and the skylight window a moonlighting stage for the b-boys, b-girls, MCs and DJs.
Graffiti Visualizing Chilean History
Chilean graffiti took influence from the US. The seminal book Subway Art, by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, captured the techniques of graffiti on New York subways, acting as a bible for artists. The bible arrived in Chile in the ‘80s.
At Hip Hop al Puerto, the public swarm Martha Cooper to sign their copies of Subway Art, telling stories of how her photographs introduced them to hip hop culture.
At Hip Hop al Puerto, the public swarm Martha Cooper to sign their copies of Subway Art, telling stories of how her photographs introduced them to hip hop culture. This has been Martha Cooper’s first time in Chile where she shared an archive of her photographs, and held a Q and A.
Martha Cooper’s photography captured and immortalized the start of a movement, otherwise always replaced by new and different artists. Likewise, in Chile, it is impossible to find the original work of the pioneers in Valparaíso streets, such as the first crew DDC, or artists Loco Alien, Seco Sanchez, ACB…
Except on the second floor of Mercado Puerto, where the live graffiti took us back into the ‘90s. Seco Sánchez paints Ana Tijoux (a Chilean hip hop artist) across two planes of view. The writer FISEK paints a condorito (taken from the Chilean comic in 1949) merged with Wild Style. Cekis, now living in the US, returns with an ode to Valparaíso streets, painting a mural opposite the colourful Mercado Central.
On the other side of the staircase is a finished canvas of a woman with large hoop earrings, smiling, and the letters ACB beside her face. This mural represents the first female graffiti artist in Chile, Andrea Cecilia Bernard. Andrea passed away in 2006, leaving a legacy as the first female to open a door into graffiti. Maida-K, the graffiti writer of this homage, says, “I think she paved the way for other women who came after her and who also believed, based on her story and her power that we can all do it. I wanted to honour her, and it has been a very beautiful experience.”
Moving around the floor are notable nods to Valparaíso: the port, the ascensores (funiculars), the presence of local crews, such as Azteca, and old school artists wandering around.
Boris, a member of DDC, one of the first crews in Viña del Mar (the next-door city to Valparaíso), says, “Nostalgia always comes when you go to review old images… Today we are realising how important it is to collect this information… we are making data and saving the information so maybe, in 10 more years, we can show again how the movement has evolved from the ‘90s to the future.”
Breaking Showcasing Intergenerational Hip Hop
In 1985, the first groups of breaking (Montaña Breakers, B14, TNT and Floor Masters) emerged in Valparaíso.
In 1985, the first groups of breaking (Montaña Breakers, B14, TNT and Floor Masters) emerged in Valparaíso. The b-boys and b-girls captured public attention and in 1992 breaking came together for the first regional competition of b-boys in La Cisterna (within the province of Santiago).
Carrying through to the present, the public is enthralled by the breaking competitions at Hip Hop al Puerto. Both on Saturday and Sunday, the crowd gathers around the taped off dance floor, and curl up the staircase listening to Petiza, the host, and DJ Dalo, for the 2×2 batalla (paired b-boys/ b-girls), and 1×1 (individual) all-style batalla.
On the Saturday, the 2×2 batallas were six hours of observing the flips, power moves, footwork, and tricks made possible by the breaker’s body. The finale featured Matifly, who is part of Conexión Directa, wearing a t-shirt bearing his name Matifly. Fittingly, his trick was him literally flying, as he spun in the air switching between one hand grounding him to the floor. But it was the Chilean national champions Nachita and Valechica who won in the finale. The only distraction from the breaking was the dog shuffling across the dance floor, passing close to the flips and moves.
However, the hearts were with Técnica Clave, the adolescent duo, and the future generation of breakers. These two boys, aged 14 and 16, choreographed their tricks and synchronised their breaking. As the boys competed against Chile’s past and current generation of b-boys and b-girls, the audience caught a glimpse of the personality and devotion from different generations.
“There are many people who continue to dance, there are others who retired, and there are others who, unfortunately, left this landscape. Those of us who stay, we try to follow that legacy – a legacy of social work, and of not leaving people behind in the neighbourhoods. In my 51st year, I want to compete with my hermanito from Argentina.” Bounces Tío Memo of Santiago Locking.
The Rap Finale Bringing Together the Elements of Hip Hop
Something started to happen in Chile in the ‘80s. Hip hop added a form of protest towards the dictatorship. Algo está pasando (something is happening). One of the first Chilean rap records, released by De Kiruza in 1988, produced from the energy of hip hop and expression against the regime. However, being part of hip hop culture in the ‘80s also meant endangering your freedom by taking part in dissent against the regime. Despite the risks, hip hop culture persevered.
Something started to happen in Chile in the ‘80s. Hip hop added a form of protest towards the dictatorship.
Something has continued to happen in Chile for 40 years. On the Sunday, Hip Hop al Puerto closed with a rap concert. Two old schoolers, Ammeli and La Dama Arpia, rap about the violence against women. Kohl Del Verso, clad in all white, raps about the natural beauty of Valparaíso. One of the MCs raps “I came to write what I live, not to rap what they tell me, they won’t be able to capture and censor the word, the conviction intact, all the bastard police between streets, bars, seas and compass, the sun’s warmth, beware of the cold and the shade, don’t eat the American dream, if I survive, we save the family first, then the gang, a house for all my brothers.”
Throughout the last hours, the elements of hip hop came together. Breakers dancing to the rappers and DJs’ beat. Whilst on floor one, graffiti writers finished their murals. Bisy, one of the creators of the event, said, “I’m going home with a full heart, and I’m taking away two words: community and emotion…. The feeling that arises when we can come together without ego, without problems, without baggage, without haters, without prejudice. In the deepest sense of hip hop, it is a movement that strives for peace and unification.” Then, the final party begins with rapper Ruz22.
In these last minutes, I was taken back to a moment that had happened in the empty hours of Sunday morning. A son and his dad were wandering around the different floors of the once deserted building. I asked the dad why he had come, and to paraphrase, he said “for him”. He indicated that his son, barely more than nine, is fascinated by graffiti; he knows a lot more than I; he reads a lot about the culture; and he sketches. This festival is a moment for him to learn more and continue to spark his interest.
Beyond events, competitions, and famous faces, it was a moment. A moment for the next generation to continue the legacy and values born from the union of pillars in Chile’s first generation of hip hop.
At Hip Hop al Puerto, there is DJ, MC, breaking, graffiti, and knowledge.
Abigail Imas, currently based in Chile, is working as an English assistant. Alongside teaching, she has written articles for OneTrackMind, Fernwayer, and prior to living in Chile, KentLive.