Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music

by George Torres

  Stylistically, dancehall has more in common with American hip-hop than standard

  Jamaican reggae. As dancehall style grew in popularity in Jamaica, it also caught

  on in other parts of the Caribbean and beyond. Important Jamaican dancehall stars

  are Buju Banton, Capleton, Eek-A-Mouse, Maxi Preist, Shabba Ranks, and Yel-

  lowman. Both Jamaican reggae and dancehall had significant influence on popular

  music styles outside the island.

  The reggae and dancehall styles migrated from Jamaica and spread to the Carib-

  bean at large, the United Kingdom, the United States, and various parts of Latin

  America. As these styles moved further from their home, they mixed with the re-

  gional styles of the diaspora. Thus, a host of reggae or dancehall-based style deri-

  vations came into existence in the 1990s and beyond. Examples of these new styles

  include reggaespanol, reggaetón, and reggae resistencia. Each of these derivations

  on the original Jamaican styles added regional elements to create musical hybrids.

  However, the principal difference between standard Jamaican reggae and these

  derivations is that Jamaican reggae is performed in English (or the thick Jamaican

  Reggae

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  patois that is based in English) and the other styles are all performed in Spanish or

  Portuguese.

  Reggaespañol (or reggae en español) is a style that has strongholds in Latin

  and Central America, as well as in Spain. Stylistically, reggaespañol sounds like

  Spanish-language Jamaican dancehall. Like dancehall, reggaespañol comes in the

  conscious and slackness lyrical varieties. This type of music is largely created by

  Black Latinos and rose to popularity in the early 1990s. Columbia Records released

  the first collection of reggaespañol songs in 1991. This compilation included tracks

  from El General, La Diva, Nardo Boom, La Atrevida, and others. Reggaespañol that

  contains more conscious lyrics is produced by artists such as Chando, Jah Nattoh,

  Bocer, and Guanche. A stronghold of the conscious variety is Barcelona, Spain.

  Reggae resistencia is a term coined by Brazilian reggae singer Edson Gomes in

  the late 1980s. The style is a combination of roots reggae and Portuguese language

  lyrics. Based in Sao Paulo, Gomes writes protest lyrics that discuss politics and re-

  ligion. EMI released Gomes’ album in this style in 1988 under the title Reggae re-

  sistencia. Since then, Gomes has continued on the road paved by Bob Marley and

  Jimmy Cliff. He remains active and has released six albums since 2000, including

  a two-CD live album in 2006.

  Reggaetón is the most popular of the Jamaican dancehall derivatives. The style

  is also known as regueton and is a specifically urban style of Spanish-language

  dancehall that became popular in Latin America in the early 1990s. The style has

  subsequently become popular internationally and now hosts several superstars,

  such as Daddy Yankee. More accurately, reggaetón blends elements of Jamaican

  dancehall, American hip-hop, and Latin bomba , merengue , and bachata . Singers perform in Spanish and often switch mid-song between Spanish and English. Just

  as Jamaican dancehall songs take their beats from preexisting songs, the character-

  istic reggaetón beat came from the Shabba Ranks tune “Dem Bow.” The unofficial

  home of reggaetón is Puerto Rico, but the style is popular across the Caribbean,

  Latin America, and the United States. Also, like dancehall, the lyrics of reggaetón

  tend to emphasize discussions of sex and the exploitation of women (standard

  slackness topics).

  Born in Panama, reggaetón quickly moved to Puerto Rico and was described

  in the 1980s as Spanish-language dancehall. Popular early artists included Chicho

  Man, Renato, and Black Apache. Once the style moved from Panama to Puerto

  Rico, it acquired a hip-hop flavor from rapper Vico C and also gained greater dis-

  tribution. In the 1990s, Puerto Rican reggaetón producers were moving away from

  the reuse of existing backing tracks and began creating their own beats. With this,

  reggaetón gained its true personality by blending dancehall toasting, hip-hop pos-

  turing, and Caribbean musical styles.

  The mature reggaetón style has several musically distinctive qualities. Most rec-

  ognizable is the heavy emphasis on drum machine produced beats that are focused

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  on snare drum use. The musical backdrop to a reggaetón song is largely electroni-

  cally produced with the synthesizer as a main instrument. The beats employed in

  reggaetón songs are often based on other popular Latin American styles such as

  salsa , bachata, and merengue.

  Throughout the mid-1990s, reggaetón was picking up an international audience.

  Through the work of artists such as DJ Playero and DJ Nelson, the style spread

  outside the Caribbean and, by the end of the decade, reggaetón was an internation-

  ally marketable style. Puerto Rican-based Daddy Yankee and Dominican Republic

  products Don Chezina and Luny Tunes have pushed the style into the new millen-

  nium and expanded the audience into the United States. The popularity of the style

  continues to grow. In 2004, American hip-hop artist N.O.R.E. created crossover

  appeal for the style when he dueted with Daddy Yankee on “ Oye Mi Canto. ” This

  success was amplified by Don Omar’s 2006 album King of Kings, which climbed

  into the top ten on the American charts and moved to number one on the Billboard

  Latin Rhythm Radio Charts.

  Reggaetón’s popularity continues to grow with artists in the style, making in-

  roads in American hip-hop and in the American film industry. In fact, reggaetón is

  popular enough that hip-hop artists are remixing select tunes to include reggaetón

  beats. Snoop Dogg and Usher have both made reggaetón remixes and the trend will

  likely continue. The crossover between American hip-hop and reggaetón is now

  significant. Daddy Yankee works with hip-hop producers Sean “Diddy” Combs

  and Pharrell Williams from the Neptunes. Reggaetón is now considered a viable

  international music style and continues to attract new listeners.

  Further Reading

  Manuel, Peter, Kenneth M. Bilby, and Michael D. Largey. Caribbean Currents: Carib-

  bean Music from Rumba to Reggae. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2006.

  Rivera, Raquel Z., Wayne Marshall, and Deborah Pacini Hernandez, eds. Reggaetón.

  Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2009.

  Samponaro, Philip. ‘‘‘Oye mi canto’ (‘Listen to My Song’): The History and Politics of

  Reggaetón.” Popular Music & Society 32, no. 4 (2009): 489–506.

  David Moskowitz

  Reggaetón. See Reggae .

  Regional (Choro)

  The regional is a Brazilian music ensemble associated with choro , the urban popular instrumental music genre that dominated the musical scene in Rio de Janeiro

  Regional

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  in the early part of the 20th century. Very few professional musicians were associ-

  ated with the early choro, which was strongly associated with amateur musicians

  of the lower middle sector of society. With the development of new entertainment

  technologies—film, recordings, and radio—a new demand for popular music led

  to changes
in the very nature of the choro. With the rise of these new media, choro

  musicians quickly found that their skills were in demand by a larger audience,

  leading to the evolution of choro from a style of playing European dance music

  performed at parties and other social functions by amateur musicians, to a separate

  genre of music performed by increasingly larger professional groups. From these

  early groups came the regional (plural, regionais ), the professional ensemble that

  became the workhorse of the entertainment industry through the 1940s.

  Popular music in Brazil came to be influenced by the nascent consumer indus-

  tries that developed in conjunction with new communication technologies. The

  budding silent film industry in the early 1900s began to employ musicians to ac-

  company films, to occupy the audience between reel changes, and to entertain the

  public in the lobby before showings; choro ensembles were hired to play at these

  cinemas, which used the quality and size of the groups as part of their advertising.

  The result was that choro moved from an amateur event to an increasingly profes-

  sional endeavor. Choro ensembles during this transitional period increased steadily

  in size and complexity as the new media put higher demands on the musicians. The

  result was greater technical precision and a stylistic change favoring faster, more

  intricate music, and more professional musicians. As these musicians became part

  of these new media, their primary audience shifted to the middle and upper classes

  (in effect, those who could afford to participate in the new types of entertainment).

  It is uncertain how these ensembles came to be known as conjuntos regionais,

  or regional ensembles, but it is generally believed that the name came from groups

  associated with the northeast region of Brazil. Before samba predominated as the

  preferred Carnival genre, choro ensembles playing maxixes were commonly part of the festivities. During the 1910s, it became fashionable for these groups to dress

  in the manner of rural northeasterners and assume northeastern names such as Tu-

  runas Pernambucanos (The Fearless Ones from Pernambuco, a state in northeastern

  Brazil). Even though they played in a thoroughly Rio de Janeiro style, they were

  known as regional ensembles since these ensembles evoked the northeast region.

  Over time, the northeastern associations were lost, and the name was assumed by

  professional radio and recording ensembles.

  The introduction and proliferation of radio also had an enormous impact on the

  course of popular music as broadcasters scrambled for high-quality music to play

  on the air, resulting in the formation of a large number of ensembles. By the 1930s,

  the recording industry employed large numbers of solo singers and instrumental-

  ists, many of whom were featured on radio broadcasts as well. Radio stations and

  record companies found it convenient to maintain their own regionais of 12–15

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  players, rather than hire freelance musicians piecemeal. These groups were usually

  named after the lead player and were strongly identified with their parent station or

  company (such as Rádio Clube with Waldir Azevedo and his Regional, Rádio Tupi

  with Benedeto Lacerda and his Regional). They functioned as in-house orchestras,

  and the high demands put on the regionals for stylistic versatility and high-quality

  performances did much to raise the general level of musical skill to even greater

  heights. New, difficult choros were composed to showcase regionais. In addition

  to choros, these groups accompanied singers and instrumentalists in a wide array

  of genres and styles, played dance music, provided background music, and filled

  in between acts on live radio shows. Radio regionals often performed live in front

  of studio audiences, and some groups even inspired the formation of fan clubs.

  Through radio, the sound of the regional penetrated even the most remote parts of

  the nation, where it became associated not only with the culture of Rio de Janeiro,

  but as music representative of the entire nation.

  Further Reading

  Garcia, Thomas George Caracas. “The Brazilian Choro: Music, Politics and Perfor-

  mance.” Ph.D. diss., Duke University, 1997.

  Livingston-Isenhour, Tamara Elena, and Thomas George Caracas Garcia. Choro: A So-

  cial History of a Brazilian Popular Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.

  Thomas George Caracas Garcia

  Religion and Music

  Though Latin America has long been identified with the rites and rituals of Roman

  Catholicism, numerous challenges to this dominance in the region have emerged

  since the beginning of the 12th century. In response to the highly ritualized style of

  Roman Catholic worship, the intermediary clergy, and the emphasis on a central-

  ized, hierarchical governance system, more egalitarian, unbound forms of worship

  are under consideration. Furthermore, the post-Vatican II groundswell of interest in

  the plight of the poor and disenfranchised in Latin America was in many respects

  the orphaned child of the acrimony over the past 30 years between liberation theo-

  logians in Latin America and the Vatican. Though Protestant denominations in the

  region do not seem to have faired better in defending the dispossessed in the region,

  the historical associations between the Catholic Church, colonial governance, and

  the land-owning elite, as well as state endorsements of Catholicism as the official

  religion (often from corrupt or brutally repressive governing regimes) has placed

  a historical burden on the Catholic Church that has not encumbered the Protestant

  denominations. In the end, Pentecostalism in particular has provided “a democratic

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  congregationalist experience for the socially disinherited” (Gordon Lewis in Stew-

  art 2004, 588), while circumventing the need to connect social issues to its eccle-

  siastical mission, given its near total emphasis on individual, spiritual salvation.

  Religious Alternatives

  Religious plurality is not entirely new to Latin America. Catholicism has, for ex-

  ample, always accommodated elements of folk religion in the region. However,

  the upsurge in religious alternatives is directly connected to increased globaliza-

  tion after 1950 and an attendant rural-to-urban shift. Though urbanization is often

  associated in the public imagination with a shift to more secular values, religious

  zeal actually tends to rise, not decline: as cities find themselves unable to meet the

  material and social needs of the population boom, new urban dwellers look more

  fervently to religion in response to their state of dispossession.

  Though the growth of evangelical and Pentecostal congregations has been fueled

  by this demographic shift, these communities vary greatly in their size and affili-

  ation to larger governing bodies. For example, numerous independent, storefront

  churches can be found in urban centers where congregants can engage in exuberant

  forms of Christian worship without alliance to larger federations. Yet, other Prot-

  estant churches align with transnational Christian conglomerates, remaining con-

  spicuously market-oriented in their presentation: televised religious services with

  charismatic evangelists;
advertised healing hours; donation campaigns; broadcasts

  from self-owned radio stations, reaching the most remote areas of Latin America;

  huge arena-style churches that jut out from the colonial cityscapes. These var-

  ied types of congregations can also be found among Latin American communities

  throughout North America as is likely in Houston or Toronto.

  Afro-Latin Religion

  Afro-Latin religious communities are both significant in size and global in scope.

  All of them exhibit, to varying degrees, multiple baselines from which their reli-

  gious fusions arose, in spite of claims of religious singularity. That is, Afro-Latin

  religions in the Americas are as likely to be influenced by multiple European and

  Amerindian sources (e.g., Kardecism, Catholic iconography, Coboclos) as they

  are by multiple African origins. The prominent transnational Afro-Latin religions

  (e.g., Arará, Candomblé, Garifuna, Palo Monte, Santería, Umbanda, and Vodou)

  all exhibit eclectic ritual compositions; however, the incorporation of drumming,

  song and dance, often leading to trance-possession states, tends to be a common

  and conspicuous feature. And, these religious practices have all migrated from

  their primary sites and reestablished themselves abroad (e.g., Garifuna in New

  York City, Vodou in Montréal, Santería in Caracas, Umbanda in Paris), giving rise

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  to contestations of authentic practice among the various communities worldwide.

  Furthermore, the religious musics of these communities have become as transna-

  tional as the communities themselves, making these repertoires more accessible to

  and adaptable by popular music artists.

  Religion and Popular Music

  The enigmatic ways in which music is able to captivate listeners—particularly ef-

  fective in engaging the emotions and the body—is undoubtedly why it is such a

  widespread feature of religious life. However, the entrance of religious matters

  into the realm of popular culture tends to be of a different order. Religious themes

  in popular music are as likely to contest prevailing religious practices and ideolo-

  gies as they are to promote them in the public sphere, making their appearance an