Source: Salsa Dancing at Old San Juan \/ Lyma Rodriguez \/ Discover Puerto Rico<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nPuerto Rico\u2019s musical genres<\/h2>\n\n\n\nSalsa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Since the days when salsa maestro H\u00e9ctor Lavoe distilled the range of human emotions into a single note, Puerto Ricans have dominated the salsa market. Born and raised in Ponce, Lavoe (1946\u201393) is hailed as the most important salsa singer in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The term salsa first appeared in the 1960s to describe the musical genre that had been ubiquitous in Puerto Rico for decades before. Technically speaking, salsa derived from the Cuban music son<\/em>\u2014a fusion of Spanish popular songs and Afro-Cuban percussion\u2014but the term is often deployed generically to myriad Latin dance forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe global passion for salsa has its roots in New York City in the 1970s. It was Nuyoricans Tito Puente\u2014\u201cThe King of Mambo\u201d\u2014Willie Col\u00f3n and Ray Barretto who first introduced Latin jazz and salsa to English-speaking audiences. With the creation of the Fania Records label, the genre gained global recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Latin Pop<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Melding every Latin genre from salsa to Spanish rock, Latin pop has evolved in line with the traditions, diaspora and the creative verve of Latinos worldwide. The 1980s saw the emergence of the highly successful teen group Menudo, one of the world\u2019s most successful boy bands, selling over 20 million records worldwide. Four-time Grammy-nominee Chayanne and child prodigy Yolandita Monge were idolized as Puerto Rico\u2019s premier pop music exponents\u2014until Ricky Martin stormed onto the scene. Challenged to create the theme song for the FIFA 1998 World Cup in France, Martin\u2019s samba-rooted anthem, \u201cLa Copa de la Vida,\u201d became the tournament\u2019s official soundtrack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reggaet\u00f3n & Latin Trap<\/h2>\n\n\n\n While Salsa remains the iconic soundtrack for Latin America, and Daddy Yankee still reigns as the world\u2019s most popular Latin artist, today the Puerto Rican music boom is fuelled by reggaet\u00f3n and Latin trap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hugely popular across Latin America, reggaet\u00f3n is a Puerto Rican derivation of dance hall that incorporates U.S. hip-hop, reggae and Latin American beats\u2014it has soundtracked Puerto Rican adolescence since the early 2000s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Underpinned by Dembow beats and tropical rhythms, the genre wears a distinct Latin identity and finds its physical expression in the perreo (grinding) dance. Back in the 90s, the genre provoked moral outrage and the authorities attempted to clamp down on record stores, claiming that reggaet\u00f3n was a misogynistic and violent force. In her book, \u201cRemixing Reggaeton,\u201d music scholar Petra R. Rivera Rideau commented that \u201cIf in the 1990s, would-be censors sought to prevent the spread of underground in Puerto Rico, by 2002, the concern was how to deal with reggaeton\u2019s omnipresence and potential international expansion.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2005, Daddy Yankee, the \u201cKing of Reggaet\u00f3n\u201d made history when his album \u201cBarrio Fino en Directo,\u201d became the top selling album of 2005 and the entire decade. Artists in Puerto Rico have continued to rewrite the script. Media sensations Bad Bunny and Ozuna are behind the latest big trend: Latin trap, a fusion of reggaet\u00f3n and trap music, a harsh rap subgenre from the southern U.S. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the span of two years, Bad Bunny went from bagging groceries and posting his songs on social media to shaping music culture. In 2016, the artist\u2019s famous trap anthem \u201cLa occasion,\u201d brought Latin trap to the masses and enabled Spanish-speaking musicians to create their own authentic playbook. <\/p>\n\n\n
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\u201cI work hard to be able to set myself apart from everything else that\u2019s going on in the trap genre\u201d \u2014 Bad Bunny.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n
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What is most significant is that Bad Bunny has managed to infiltrate the domestic U.S. and European markets without conceding his mother tongue. A paradigm shift has been underway in the music industry where, for decades, English-speaking music dominated the global landscape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Bomba at Old San Juan \/ Omark Reyes \/ Discover Puerto Rico<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nTraditional Folk Music<\/h2>\n\n\n\nBomba<\/h2>\n\n\n\n A traditional music style, bomba is one of Puerto Rico\u2019s most popular forms of folk music. Stroll through the streets of Old San Juan and you can still expect to see locals beating a goatskin covered rum barrel while a singer leads a dialogue between the percussionist and the dancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An expression of the island\u2019s African heritage, the genre is defined by the use of three instruments: maracas, cu\u00e1<\/em> (two wooden sticks) and the bomba barrel\u2014 a large drum. The dance dates from the beginning of the Spanish colonial period, when cane sugar workers in the towns of Mayag\u00fcez, San Juan, Lo\u00edza and Ponce united during dance gatherings or Bailes de Bomba <\/em>(Bomba Dances) as a form of catharsis. <\/p>\n\n\n\nMarginalized as a musical genre of protest and resistance, Bomba has undergone a renaissance over recent years. In 2019, for the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, the mayor of San Juan danced bomba<\/em> with Ricky Martin. Also movies and documentaries, like \u201cBomba: Dancing the Drum\u201d and Spike Lee\u2019s \u201cShe\u2019s Gotta Have It,\u201d have led to a mainstream embrace of the improvisational form. <\/p>\n\n\n\nPlena<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Plena is also a folk music style, historically rooted in Puerto Rican and African music culture. Derived from bomba, the form originated in Ponce in the early 20th century to express the struggle of Puerto Rico\u2019s rural communities in the face of seismic socio-political change. It was often referred to as the peri\u00f3dico cantado<\/em> or \u201csung newspaper\u201d for its social commentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPlena is characterized by three or more handheld drums, or panderos<\/em>, of different sizes\/pitches (seguidor, segundo and requinto), and the guiro<\/em> (a gourd percussion of native Taino origin) which combine to create the music\u2019s dynamic rhythms. They are often accompanied by the guitar, cuatro<\/em> (a small guitar) and accordion, wind and brass instruments.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOver recent years, contemporary Latin music artists have revived the genre, riffing off traditional plena songs and paying homage to the form\u2019s oral call and response form. Modern plena bands can often be heard at town festivals and events across the island and have become associated with progressive political groups. This new generation of plena artists include the all-women group, Plena Combativa, from the northeastern town of Ceiba who channel the form to protest against any expressions of patriarchal and misogynistic culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Bomba & Plena at Old San Juan \/ Omark Reyes \/ Discover Puerto Rico<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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