After years without releasing a solo project, Colombian artist Goyo returns with a mighty and elegant roar: Pantera, her second solo album. This is not just a musical comeback. It's a declaration. A sonic manifesto where Afro-descendant power, feminine empowerment, and reconnection with cultural roots come together through contemporary beats and ancestral melodies.
Composed of 14 tracks and recorded between London and Miami, the album is as diverse as the places where it was born. Throughout the project, Goyo blends Afro-Caribbean rhythms, hip-hop, R&B, and Pacific Colombian influences, featuring collaborations with Greeicy, Afro B, Zaider, Pras (Fugees), DFZM, J Noa, and Luister La Voz. Pantera, which came out in July 10, is, according to its creator, "a celebration of all my versions: the girl from Chocó, the mother, the Black woman, the producer, the one who dances, the one who denounces, and the one who dreams."
The Panther: Spirit, Symbol, and Alter Ego
"I've always felt connected to the panther," Goyo tells New Times. "Not just as an animal, but as a symbol. It's elegant, silent, adaptable, but also fierce. It represents what I am today, a woman who has transformed many times and now allows herself to be all of them at once."The title of the album goes beyond branding. The panther, as spirit guide and metaphor, runs through every aspect of the album. From its visual aesthetic, where we see Goyo reflected in water — dual, ever-changing, feline — to the tone of the lyrics: soft when they want, fierce when they must.
Goyo also draws inspiration from the historical Black Panther movement. "The Black Panthers in the U.S. defined an era. I discovered them through Tupac's music, learning his mother was an activist. I became obsessed with figures like Angela Davis. That mix of awareness, activism, beauty, and style deeply influenced me. I wanted all of that to live inside this record."
Miami, London, and Chocó: Three Coasts, One Heart
The album was shaped across three worlds. Miami, where Goyo currently lives; London, a creative hub; and Chocó, her homeland. She says Miami has been creatively expansive: "Carlos Vives once told me, 'The great thing about Miami is that you build your own Miami.' And it's true. This city is like a canvas — you fill it with your own people, your sounds, your food. It's been so nourishing."London came from a more spiritual pull than a career move. "I read Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and she described how many African artists head to London like it's their other capital. I felt that. That I needed to connect my Afro-Colombian identity with the broader African diaspora," Goyo says.
That cultural crossing birthed hybrid sounds. On the "Hablan de Mí" track, Goyo blends hip-hop with alabao, a traditional funeral chant from Colombia's Pacific coast. "I always dreamed of a solo album with these textures. I didn't want to abandon who I am, even if the beats were born elsewhere."
One of the most intimate songs on the album is "Cuaderno" ("Notebook"), born from Goyo's therapy process after her divorce. "My Spanish therapist had me write three pages a day in a notebook, paired with an emotion chart. It became a daily ritual, my creative lifeline. I still do it every morning." The track captures that emotional journaling with tender lyrics: "I write it in my notebook, in case I don't scream it / that I still dream of you / and in the mornings, when I feel the cold the most." Goyo says the practice didn't just help her grieve — it helped her hear herself again. "Writing gave me permission to feel without shame. And by taking those feelings out of my body, I turned them into music."
Pantera, she says, marks a turning point. "I'm not the same woman who released her first record. I'm a mother now, I'm more aware, more grounded. I no longer need external approval to know who I am."
Rooted Collaborations
The album's soundscape is enriched by collaborators who also carry the flag of identity and heritage. "I chose artists who celebrate where they come from. People who understand that identity isn't a trend — it's a responsibility." J Noa, the fierce Dominican rapper, joins Goyo in a blazing track. Afro B brings Afrobeat vibes. Greeicy adds sweetness and vocal strength to a song about self-love. Pras, from the legendary Fugees, bridges Goyo's world with the Afro-American legacy.The production team includes top-tier names like Slow Mike, LOUDDAAA, Moon Willis, !llmind, Don Mills, and JK The Sage. The mix comes courtesy of industry greats Mosty, Luis Barrera Jr., and Dominique, crafting a globally ambitious yet deeply rooted musical offering.
Though the album radiates strength, Pantera leaves space for vulnerability. Some tracks embrace longing, grief, and quiet introspection. "We often think strength means not crying. But a panther also weeps. She also hides. She licks her wounds. That's just as important."
In this sense, Pantera is also an album about rebirth. Goyo doesn't shy away from the fact that this project came from a place of personal transition. "Leaving a marriage, rebuilding myself as a woman, as a mother, as an artist… it was a journey. There were dark days. But out of that came light. And music."
From Chocó to the Billboard Stage
As part of the album's debut, Goyo will join Billboard Latin Music Week in October, sharing the stage with legends like Laura Pausini and Gloria Estefan. For her, this moment is not just personal—it's collective. "Gloria Estefan was my mom's favorite. Her song "Mi Tierra" taught me that you can carry your homeland inside you. And Laura… she was the voice of my older cousins' heartbreaks. To stand beside them now,it's surreal but earned. I've been building my own legacy too," she mentions.Goyo says she chose water imagery for the album cover because water reflects us — yet transforms us. "In water, you see yourself differently every day. And that's okay. We can be many things. We can change. We can start again."
When we ask what she would tell the little girl from Chocó who once dreamed of holding a microphone, unsure if someone who looked like her could ever belong in music, she answers without hesitation: "I'd tell her not to be afraid. Yes, it's possible. Even if she didn't have many role models. Now, a lot of girls have her."
And that is Pantera: a roar born from memory, rhythm, pain, water, and healing. It is an album that doesn't just sound — it resonates, claims space, and reminds us that when a panther roars, no one stays indifferent.
