practices, musical instruments, and distinct playing styles were integrated with Euro-
pean and indigenous traditions. This integration of diverse traditions greatly spurned
the creation of new popular music traditions such as rumba (Cuba), samba (Brazil),
plena , bomba (Puerto Rico), cumbia (Colombia), and many others.
In some instances, African-influenced religions such as Cuban Santeriá not only
influenced expressions of racial heritage but also the development of some Latin
American popular music styles and genres. Musically, this religious tradition inte-
grates elements of extensive singing done in call-and-response patterns, polyrhyth-
mic drumming, and dancing. But in a secular sense, this religion often provided
local musicians with musical training and skills in which some later applied to
Race
Relations
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innovative popular music. The religious practices of Santeriá and the association
with fraternal organizations known as Abakwa became interconnected with African
American jazz and the innovation of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz.
During the 1940s, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie (1917–1993) and Afro-Cuban
drummer Chano Pozo (1915–1948) attempted to blend new styles and rhythms
that were more rooted in African religious heritage that would be treated with re-
spect rather than a floor show of exoticism. In addition, Pozo’s background in the
Afro-Cuban Santeriá religion and Abakwa drumming traditions presented a type of
knowledge that Gillespie was seeking and a connection with African heritage. These
musicians later collaborated on Manteca (1947), one of the most popular composi-
tions, and created a new musical vocabulary in Afro-Cuban/Latin jazz history.
Sentiments about race relations in Latin America have often been expressed through
popular music. Particularly, in the mid-1970s after the popularization of reggae
music, some communities in Latin America became more active in expressing con-
cerns about race relations and equality in their local communities through their as-
sociation with ideologies of Pan-Africanism, negritude, civil rights, and black pride.
This includes the participation in different social movements as a way of engaging
in community activism for expressing class, identity, and social and political sen-
timents about race relations. For example, in Brazil, many young Afro-Brazilians
began to participate in drumming ensembles and became affiliated with social or-
ganizations such as the Movimento Negro Unificado (Unified Black Movement
[MNU]), an organization that was formed to advocate against racism and unite the
struggles of Afro-Brazilians throughout the country. During the mid-1970s in urban
cities such as Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, the epicenter of Afro-Brazilian culture, there
was a rapid growth of what was known as blocos afros (community block drumming
groups) that was comprised of lower- and working-class young Afro-Brazilians.
One of the most prominent blocos afros organizations is Ilê Aiyê, a community
organization that was founded in 1974 as an important vehicle for expressing black
pride in an open forum especially during the Carnival season when new popular
music styles such as samba-reggae and axé music are premiered. Ilê Aiyê presented a positive image of the black Afro-Brazilian with popular songs such as “Que Bloco
É Esse” ( “What Carnival group is that” ) where the lyrical content makes reference
to “Somos [we are] black power,” and an ideology of black is beautiful, as symbols
of racial/ethnic identity and connections with blacks outside of Brazil. This song also
influenced many other racially centered popular songs of the 1980s and 1990s such as
“Kizomba, Festa da Raça” (“Kizomba, Celebration of the Race”), and “Canto do Cor”
(“Song of Color”) by Banda Reflexu’s, another popular blocos afro group in Brazil.
In some areas of Latin America as in Brazil, Cuba, and Colombia, poetic rap-
ping and Hip-Hop have become popular styles and genres for establishing alliances
with local and international communities, professional and cultural activities, and
as symbols of positive race relations that are centered on equality.
326 | Ranchera
Further Reading
Clark, Walter. From Tejano to Tango: Latin Popular Music. New York and London:
Routledge, 2002.
Crook, Larry N. Brazilian Music: Northeastern Traditions and the Heartbeat of a Mod-
ern Nation. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005.
Olsen, Dale A. “Music of Immigrant Groups.” In The Garland Handbook of Latin Ameri-
can Music, edited by Dale A. Olsen and Daniel E. Sheehy, 83–91. New York and London:
Garland, 2000.
Roberts, John Storm. Black Music of Two Worlds: Africa, Caribbean, Latin, and African-
American Traditions. 2nd ed. New York: Schirmer Books, 1998.
Sheehy, Daniel E. “Popular Mexican Musical Traditions.” In Music in Latin American
Culture: Regional Traditions, edited by John M. Schechter, 34–79. New York: Schirmer
Books, 1999.
Sobart, Henry. “Bolivia.” In The Garland Handbook of Latin American Music, edited
by Dale A. Olsen and Daniel E. Sheehy, 326–43. New York and London: Garland, 2000.
Clarence Henry
Ranchera
The ranchera, or more precisely the canción ranchera (country song), is regarded
as Mexico ’ s quintessential popular music genre. It is characterized by its lyrical and
often sentimental qualities in both song text and melody. Although usually associ-
ated with mariachi , an ensemble type from Jalisco, which evolved into Mexico’s
national music style in the 1930s, rancheras are performed by most regional Mexi-
can music ensembles, including bandas , conjuntos, norteños , and duranguense groups. More recently, música ranchera (ranchera/country music) emerged as a
popular umbrella term to designate all kinds of rural-rooted Mexican music genres
and styles.
Mexico’s repertory of popular musics, from its very beginnings in the 19th cen-
tury, cannot always be sharply distinguished from those of folk music traditions
and art music because these categories overlap substantially. In fact, popular music
genres in Mexico were often urban renditions of folk genres, whereas the most
popular folk songs were influenced by 19th-century European salon music. Indeed
both European romanticism and Italian opera have influenced the canción, which
reached a high level of popularity by the midcentury when it was heard in the
opera house, the salons of the aristocracy and the middle class, as well as through-
out the rural village and urban neighborhood. Various musicologists have termed
the second half of the 19th century the golden age of Mexican song, however, the
Mexican canción developed its modern characteristics during the post-1910 revo-
lution period when it was transformed into a simpler and more rural-based song
type. These now-called canciones rancheras, or peasant/country songs, appealed
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to the recently urbanized rural masses as well as to the middle-class city dwellers
in postrevolutionary Mexico. As momentary recreations of a simpler and roman-
ticized folk heritage, rancheras were able to evoke feelings
of nostalgia and pa-
triotism, and for that, Mexicanness. The postrevolutionary period in general was
characterized by the rise of a strong national identity. The mestizos came to form a
part of the longed-for national spirit and through them popular music experienced
a renewed vigor.
The musical characteristics of the modern canción ranchera include the use of
tonic and dominant harmonies, a preference for the major mode, 2/4 and 3/4 me-
ters, a melodic style that showcases a strong vocal technique, affected falsetto, gri-
tos (yells), wide leaps, and elements such as portamento, sforzando, and ritardando
at the end of the phrase. Male singers typically sing in a high register (preferably
tenor), while women sing in alto with a hoarse voice ( voz ronca ). The songs are
mostly of melodramatic content (unrequited love, abandonment, torment, etc.), eu-
logize the nation and the region, and romanticize the kind-hearted hacienda owners,
gallant macho lovers, decent women, and happy peons.
Emerging in the 1930s, the comedia ranchera (ranch comedy), the most endur-
ing genre of Mexican cinema, facilitated the establishment of the canción ranch-
era, interpreted by the folk-derived mariachi ensemble and the singing charro (horseman). The new media also helped to expand the initial realm of popularity of
the genre, transitioning from the working class to the middle and upper classes. In
the 1940s, the heydays of this genre, mariachi had fully incorporated the canción
ranchera. The ensemble served perfectly to accompany both canción ranchera
styles, the estilo bravío (fierce style) dominated by trumpets, and the estilo sen-
timental (sentimental style) dominated by string instruments. Singer-actors such
as Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, and José Alfredo Jiménez turned into superstars
during the golden era of Mexican cinema. The prominent female ranchera singer
Lucha Reyes paved the way for a number of ranchera queens, such as Lola Beltrán,
Amalia Mendoza, and Lucha Villa.
After World War II, the canción romántica (romantic song), a more refined ver-
sion of the canción ranchera, arose and gained in popularity, particularly among
middle-class urbanites. Popularized by the romantic, guitar -based trios, the bolero
and the canción-bolero flourished for more than a decade until they had to give way
to new musical developments. Because of the lasting appeal of mariachi and other
regional ensemble types, the ranchera is still widely popular. With a new generation
of young ranchera singers like Alejandro Fernández, Pepe Aguilar, Pablo Montero,
Ezequiel Peña, Ana Gabriel, Graciela Beltrán, and Nydia Rojas, the genre experi-
enced a revival in the late 1990s.
Further Reading
Mendoza, Vicente T. La canción mexicana: ensayo de clasificación y antología. Mexico
City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1961.
328 | Rasgueado
Velázquez, Marco, and Mary Kay Vaughan. “Mestizaje and Musical Nationalism in
Mexico.” In The Eagle and the Virgin: Nation and Cultural Revolution in Mexico, 1920–
1940, edited by Mary Kay Vaughan and Stephen E. Lewis, 95–118. Durham, NC: Duke
University Press, 2006.
Helena Simonett
Rap. See Hip-Hop.
Rasgueado
Rasgueado is a right-hand strumming technique. Derived from techniques on the
Spanish guitar (especially flamenco music), the use of rasgueado in Latin American music gives much flavor and color to the music. There are many different variet-
ies of rasgueado in Latin American music, much of which has worked its way into
the popular music sphere, and different strumming techniques may be associated
with particular regional varieties of music and genres. Sometimes the strummed
rasgueado technique may be combined with a plucked, punteo, style of playing,
where the player plucks out individual notes rather than strumming chords. Ras-
gueado techniques may employ motions generated from the fingers or the twisting
of the wrist. The particular effect that is derived from a particular rasgueado is de-
termined by several factors including which fingers are used, which direction they
are strummed (upstrokes or downstrokes), and the strings to be strummed in the
pattern (some concentrate on the treble side while others concentrate on the bass).
It is the ordering of the individual strokes that provides accents to the rasgueado re-
sulting in a characteristic rhythmic pattern. Notable patterns that utilize rasgueado
techniques include the Argentine zamba and chacarera , the Mexican son huasteco
and son jalisciense . One of the distinctive features of Latin American rasgueado is the frequent use of a muting technique called quedo or chasquido, which provides
a rhythmic effect.
Further Reading
Stover, Rico. Latin American Guitar Guide. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 1995.
George Torres
Reco-Reco
The reco-reco is a Brazilian percussion instrument made of an open cylinder of
wood, metal, or bamboo with grooves notched into the shell over which a stick is
Reco-Reco
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329
scraped. The reco-reco can be used to provide rhythmic accompaniment to various
folk and popular musical traditions in Brazil including samba , coco , baião , mar-
cha , and forró . A specialized variety, the reco-reco de mola ( reco-reco with a metal spring), is used in the escola de samba. A variety of sounds (closed and open, staccato and legato) are achieved on the reco-reco by means of hand and finger pres-
sure, the speed and intensity of scraping, and by opening and closing the ends of
the cylinder. Pixinguinha ’ s group Oito Batutas was one of the earliest groups in Brazil to use the reco-reco in a recording (1921).
Further Reading
Bolão, Oscar. Batuque é um privilégio: A percussão da música do Rio de Janeiro/
Batuque is a privilege: Percussion in Rio de Janeiro’s music. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Lu-
miar Editora, 2003.
Larry Crook
Daddy Yankee
Daddy Yankee (b. 1977) is a successful Latin Grammy Award–winning Puerto
Rican–based
reggaetón recording artist who helped popularize the genre
in the United States. Daddy Yankee began his recording career appearing on
DJ Playero’s 1993 album Playero 37. His youthful aspirations of playing Major
League baseball ended when he was hit in the leg by a stray bullet at age 16.
Nonetheless, he turned adversity into inspiration when he teamed up with
Playero. Yankee’s skills on the microphone earned him the nickname “king of
improvisation” and his rise to international fame parallels the increasing popu-
larity of the reggaetón style. The albums Los Homerunes, El Cangri.com, El Cartel
de Yankee, and El Cartel de Yankee 2 exemplify Daddy Yankee’s brand of reggae-
tón, a Spanish language hybrid of Jamaican dancehall and American hip-hop.
Further amplifying Daddy Yankee’s popularity was the live album Barrio Fino en
Directo, certifi ed platinum in the United States. His popularity in the United
States has increased since the highly successful 2004 single “Gasolina.” He has
worked with American hip-hop luminaries including N.O.R.E. His increasing
accolades include a nomination for the MTV Video Music Awards, the Latin
>
Billboard Awards Reggaetón Album of the Year, and a Latin Grammy.
Further Reading
http://www.reggaetónline.net/daddy-yankee_reggaetón, accessed June 6, 2012.
David Moskowitz
330 | Reggae
Reggae (reggaespañol, reggae resistencia, reggaetón)
The term reggae began as the style descriptor for Jamaican popular music in the
late 1960s. The reggae style was a combination of Jamaican and international influ-
ences; however, the term has now come to denote any Jamaican popular music style
including ska, rocksteady, roots reggae, and dancehall. At its peak, Jamaican reggae
was categorized by the use of ska horns, the moderately slow beat of rocksteady,
the shuffle rhythm influence of New Orleans rhythm and blues, and the African
burru drumming tradition filled with syncopation. The standard instrumentation
was acquired from American popular music and included electric guitar, electric
bass, drum set, vocals, and optional keyboards and horn line. The characteristic reg-
gae beat pattern is called the one drop rhythm and is achieved when the drum set
player only emphasizes the third beat of a four beat measure and the guitar plays
off beat choked chords. This brand of reggae was best exemplified by the music of
Bob Marley and the Wailers (who wrote a song about the beat pattern called “One
Drop”). As the use of the term reggae evolved it began to describe all of the Jamai-
can popular music styles generically, just as rock ‘n’ roll has become a catch all term
for American popular music. Additional artists that fit under the reggae umbrella
include Black Uhuru, Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, Inner Circle,
Gregory Isaacs, Freddie McGregor, Augustus Pablo, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer.
The Jamaican popular music style that came after reggae was called dancehall.
This style was ushered in the wake of Bob Marley’s death in 1981. The style in-
volves a DJ singing or toasting new lyrics over a repetitive beat. Dancehall takes
its name from the venues in which it developed. The lyrics of dancehall songs run
the gamut from conscious uplifting of the oppressed Jamaican underclass to discus-
sions of sexual encounters, drug use, or criminal activity (called slackness lyrics).
Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music Page 56
