This talk explores the disjuncture between hegemonic racialized discourses and grassroots understandings of music and race in the case of Afro-Andean Atajo de Negritos. A religious music and dance practice widespread across the south-central coast of Peru, it features a combination of Afro-diasporic and Andean aesthetic elements. External hegemonic racialized discourses, however, represent Atajo de Negritos as “authentically black” guided by prejudices on how Afro-Peruvian music and musicians should look, behave, and sound that clash with local understandings of music and race. The talk analyzes how grassroots practitioners strategically engage with the external racialized expectations of tourists, researchers, and development workers on Atajo de Negritos in ways that align with local needs and agendas. This work engages with larger global conversations about music, racialization, and cultural diversity across the African diaspora.