inherently political act, blurring any clear separation between music, religion, and
politics in popular culture.
In a general sense, the musics of African-derived ritual traditions “have defined
Latin American music as well as greatly influenced world music” (Stewart 2004,
569), irrespective of any direct link between African and Latin popular musics.
Those popular Afro-Latin musical styles that have enjoyed commercial success
beyond the geography of Latin America (e.g., salsa, samba, merengue ) routinely come to stand in for what constitutes Latin music abroad, in spite of the true diversity of musical production in Latin America.
The sensibilities formed by the region’s long-standing Catholic heritage have
had a lasting influence on all aspects of social life and music making, often yield-
ing resistance in the world of popular music to received notions of moral and ethical
propriety. The widespread hypersexualization of commercial salsa, for example,
is not simply a result of machismo or the submission to sexual objectification.
Aside from an obvious chauvinism in such an opinion, this facile analysis looks
past the ideological positions that such behaviors can, and often do, articulate: the
sexualization of salsa can be seen in opposition to Catholic patriarchal and sexual
mores, particularly the glorification of chastity. Many Latin hip-hop artists, partic-
ularly women, are tackling these and similar themes, including sexual orientation,
in much more overt manners (e.g., Las Krudas, Tina).
References in popular music to Afro-Latin religion tend to be more unambigu-
ous, given the importance of these practices as markers of African heritage and
resistance to the vestiges of European colonialism. For example, the mention of
Afro-Cuban deities and religious life are recurring features in the lyrics of the
Cuban-derived popular dance musics of son , salsa, and timba (e.g., Willie Colon, Polo Montañez, Eddie Palmieri, Los Van Van, et al.). References to Afro-Brazilian
religions are ostensibly more prevalent: the largest and most renowned blocos Afros
of Brazilian Carnival including Olodum, Ilê Aiyê, and Ara Ketu have all taken
Religion and Music | 337
names of (West African) Yoruba derivation, from where the orisha religions of
Latin America originated, and have earned marked commercial success. Brazilian
afoxé music and its principal rhythm ijexá (both names are also of Yoruba deriva-
tion) are based on Candomblé religious music, though recontextualized in secu-
lar settings such as Carnival and made adaptable to various sociopolitical agenda
such as the celebration of Afro-Brazilian religion or challenges to notions of racial
conciliation. Similar musical and political subjects are recurring in the lyrics and
the beats of Latin rap and reggaetón (e.g., Orishas, RZO). Many ensembles have
also successfully combined popular dance forms with Afro-Latin religious musics
and/or Latin jazz, often emphasizing sacred repertoires (songs, drumming, dance)
and instruments (e.g., Batacumbele, Boukman Eksperyans, Fort Apache Band,
Irakere, Síntesis).
The foregrounding of religion as a marketplace in the globalized economy has
prompted a growing economy for contemporary Christian music throughout Latin
America. Like the affiliated Christian media networks, the Christian music industry
exhibits all of the production and marketing savvy of its mainstream counterparts,
successfully establishing itself as a transnational force throughout the Americas.
Because the musical tastes of the Latin American Christian music market are no
less varied than those of the mainstream, Christian music is produced in any of the
mainstream popular genres found throughout the Americas, from Christian ranch-
era to zouk or reggaetón gospel. Any popular musical style can be imbued with an overt Christian message, and many are made available to the Latin American Christian market in French, Portuguese, and Spanish: artists who play Brazilian Praise
Punk or imbue Haitian mizik evanjelik (evangelical music) with the dance rhythms
of konpa are finding airplay and markets for their recordings in a rapidly expand-
ing transnational Christian music industry.
Further Reading
Birman, Patricia, and David Lehmann. “Religion and the Media in a Battle for Ideologi-
cal Hegemony: The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and TV Globo in Brazil.”
Bulletin of Latin American Research 18, no. 2 (1999): 145–64.
Brown, Diana. Umbanda: Religion and Politics in Urban Brazil. 2nd ed. New York: Co-
lumbia University Press, 1994.
Butler, M.L. “ ‘Nou Kwe nan Sentespri’ (We Believe in the Holy Spirit): Music, Ec-
stasy, and Identity in Haitian Pentecostal Worship.” Black Music Research Journal 22,
no. 1 (2002): 85–125.
Feldman, Heidi. Black Rhythms of Peru: Reviving African Musical Heritage in the Black
Pacific. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2006.
Fernandes, Sujatha and Jason Stanyek. “Hip-Hop and the Black Public Spheres in Cuba,
Venezuela and Brazil.” In Beyond Slavery: The Multilayered Legacy of Africans in Latin
America and the Caribbean, edited by Darién Davis, 199–222. Maryland: Rowman and
Littlefield, 2007.
338 | Requinto
Matory, J. Lorand. Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy
in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.
Perna, Vincenzo. 2004. Timba: The Sound of the Cuban Crisis. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
Smith, Christian. Latin American Religion in Motion. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis, 1999.
Stewart, Robert J. “Religion, Myths and Beliefs: Their Sociopolitical Roles.” In Gen-
eral History of the Caribbean, Vol. V: The Caribbean in the Twentieth Century, edited by
B. Brereton, 559–605. Paris-London: UNESCO Publishing-Macmillian Caribbean, 2004.
Michael D. Marcuzzi
Requinto
Requinto is a term used in both Spanish and Portuguese to refer to a small instru-
ment that is tuned to a higher range. The most common usage for requinto is for
guitar -type instruments, although there exists a high drum used in Puerto Rican
folk drumming that is known as a requinto drum. The name requinto has no rela-
tionship to the interval of a fifth (as quinto might suggest), but comes from the word
to tighten or to make taut. Because the word requinto is also used as a generic
term to designate a type of small, acoustic guitar-like instrument used to play me-
lodic lead in various folk genres, the following will discuss those uses most com-
monly associated with popular music in Latin America.
Requinto Jarocho
The requinto jarocho is a four-string lead guitar used in the son jarocho ensemble.
It is also known locally as the guitarra de son or the javalina. It comes in a vari-
ety of sizes ranging from about 50 centimeters to just under 100 centimeters. It
is tuned primarily in fourths, using thick nylon strings. The instrument is played
standing with the strap being slung over the right shoulder, and it is plucked with a
pick crafted from an animal horn or made out of plastic. Traditionally, the instru-
ment was carved out of a solid block of red cedar, though nowadays one finds fine
crafted instruments that resemble a more traditional Spanish guitar cons
truction.
Related to this type of innovation is the use of tuning keys, which traditionally em-
ployed friction pegs, like traditional flamenco guitars, but more recently, requinto
makers have been using mechanical tuning machines in their headstocks. With the
arpa jarocha, it plays the melody within the ensemble. Lino Chávez and Rutilo
Parroquín are considered to be exemplary requinto jarocho players.
Requinto Romántico
The requinto ( romántico ) is a small classical guitar tuned a fourth higher than the
standard guitar. It can be plucked with either a pick or with the fingers of the right
Rhumba
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339
hand, and very often, a thumb pick. The instrument was invented in 1945 by Al-
fredo Gil of Trio Los Panchos so that he could play introductions and interludes on
a guitar without losing any of the sustain from placing a capo too high on the neck.
Since Gil’s invention of the requinto and use of it as the melodic lead instrument,
it has become standard in trío romántico performance practice. The scale of the
instrument is shorter than the standard Spanish guitar, ranging about 53 to 55 cen-
timeters. Because of this, the shortness of its string length allows a greater rapidity
in the movements of the left hand, as well as also granting the instrument a sharper
timbre than that of the standard guitar. As noted above, the instrument is tuned a
fourth higher than the guitar, A-D-G-c-e-a, and a capo is often used in performance
to transpose idiomatically to other keys.
Requinto (drum)
The requinto drum is a handheld, single-headed frame drum, and it is the smallest
of the drums ( panderetas ) used in Puerto Rican plena ensembles. The tuning of
the requinto head is relatively high for hand drums, and it is usually played with
two tones, an open tone and a slap tone. Within the drum ensemble, the requinto
drummer usually plays an improvisation over the holding patterns of the other two
drums. In the older tradition, requinto players used their fingers in their playing
style. More recently, requinto performance practice favors use of the entire hand,
as in conga playing.
Further Reading
Marin, Nidia. “Los Panchos.” Guitarra fácil 13. Mexico City: Ediciones Libra, n.d.
Torres, George. “The Bolero Romántico: From Cuban Dance to International Popular
Song,” in From Tejano to Tango: Essays on Latin American Popular Music, edited by Walter
A. Clark, 151–71. New York: Garland, 2002.
George Torres
Rhumba
Rhumba is an English spelling variant of the term rumba, which in the non-Spanish-
speaking world became the generic coverall term for Latin American popular
music compositions. Unfortunately, this was an incorrect use of the term as the true
Cuban rumba is a folkloric song and dance genre that has nothing in common with
the popularized American rhumbas. The history of the misnomer has been well
documented, and can be traced back to a performance by Justo “Don” Azpiazu of
a son-pregón by Moisés Simons, “El manicero” (“The Peanut Vendor”), which on
the same program included a stylized rumba. Since then, American journalists,
musicians, and publishers used the term rhumba (the presence of the h signifying
340 | Rock
Brasileiro
the rolled r in Spanish). By the mid-1930s, publishers were profiting by market-
ing and selling collections of rhumbas even though the majority of what they were
labeling as a rhumba was really a son , guaracha , cha-cha-chá , etc. In spite of the correctly termed popular sheet music from publishers in Havana and Mexico City
that sold in this country in the 1940s and 1950s, the term continued to be marketed
in the United States by those same publishers as rhumba. Peer Southern, which
published in Havana and the United States, would market their repertoire using
the terms son and guaracha in Havana, while those same tunes sold in the United
States as part of the series Rumba rhythms. As long as this music remains under
copyright, the wrong terminology will continue to be passed on to musicians. A re-
cent publication of the Mexican vals “La Cucaracha” is labeled “ tempo di rumba. ”
Further Reading
Roberts, John Storm. The Latin Tinge: The Impact of Latin American Music on the
United States. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
George Torres
Rock Brasileiro (Brazilian Rock)
Rock performed by people from Brazil dates to Nora Ney’s 1955 cover of “Rock
around the Clock” and Celly Campelo’s 1959 “Estúpido Cupido,” a translation of
“Stupid Cupid” presented on the national television show Chacrinha. Brazilian
rock, however, began in the early 1960s, with a generation eventually called the
“Jovem Guarda,” after a television show of the same name. The most successful of
these singers would be Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos, and Wanderléa. Influenced
by the likes of Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and the Beatles, they, and bands like
the Brazilian Bitles, popularized the “iê-iê-iê” sound.
As Tim Maia explored soul and Jorge Ben shaped samba -rock, the 1960s gave
birth to a distinctly Brazilian sound. In 1967, a psychedelic trio from São Paulo
directed by Rogério Duprat called Os Mutantes placed second while backing Gil-
berto Gil during the 3rd Festival of Música Popular Brasileira (MPB). The next
year Gil and fellow Bahian Caetano Veloso headed a cast including Os Mutantes
and Tom Zé and released Tropicalia ou Panis et Circencis, heralding the pan-artistic
tropicália movement.
Previously the domain of MPB, the flag of social protest was hoisted by many
rockers. Bands under the dictatorship had their songs censored, and artists were
tortured and exiled. One was Raul Seixas, who developed his brand of irreverent
rock in the early 1970s and, with writer Paulo Coelho, founded the Alternative So-
ciety. In São Paulo, Secos & Molhados mixed glam and progressive rock with folk-
lore and politics in complex vocal arrangements. In 1975 Rita Lee & Tutti-Frutti
Rock Brasileiro | 341
recorded “Fruto Proibido.” The diversity of the decade is illustrated in the progres-
sive rock of Vímana (with Lulu Santos, Lobão, and Ritchie) and Terço, the hard
rock of Made in Brazil and Casa das Máquinas, the regional rock of Novos Baianos,
the rural rock of Sá, Rodrix & Guarabyra, and the fusion rock of Azymuth.
CBS, EMI, Som Livre, and Warner took rock seriously in the 1980s. Nu-
merous compilations were released: Os Intocáveis, Rock Voador, Rock Wave,
Rumores, and Rock do Sul presented diverse flavors; some groups, like Banda
69, Escola de Escândalo, and Eletrodomésticos (“Choveu no meu chip”), were
one-hit wonders, while others, like Kid Abelha and Capital Inicial, became gi-
ants in “BRock” history. Assisted by President Sarney’s Plano Cruzado, which
froze prices and exchange rates, the group RPM sold 2,200,000 copies of the
1986 “Rádio Pirata ao vivo.” Rio’s Barão Vermelho, São Paulo’s Titãs, and Bra-
sília’s Paralamas do Sucesso and Legião Urbana had gold and platinum disks
through the 1990s and, with FM stations like Rádio Fluminense, Rádio Rock, and
> Transamérica behind them, silenced the decades-old epithets of rockers as alien-
ated, Americanized, and colonized. Noteworthy 1980s groups included Camisa
de Vênus, Engenheiros de Hawaii, Blitz, Plebe Rude, Ira! and Ultraje a Rigor,
among myriad others.
The compilations Grito Suburbano and O Começo do Fim do Mundo manifested
rock brasileiro’s other, harder face. Punk and hardcore took root in the twilight of
the 1970s with São Paulo’s Joelho de Porco, Restos de Nada, and Inocentes, and
Brasília’s Aborto Elétrico, and in the 1980s with São Paulo’s Olho Seco, Garotos
Podres, Ratos de Porão, and Cólera, Brasília’s ARD and Detrito Federal, Rio’s Des-
ordeiros, Porto Alegre’s Replicantes, and Belém’s Delinqüentes. Dorsal Atlântica
(Rio) and Sepultura, Chakal, Sarcófago, and, later, Angra (all from Minas Gerais)
cemented metal’s presence. Female bands, including Bulimia, Valhalla, Kaos
Klitoriano, and No Class, appeared in the underground. Handmade fanzines and
home-dubbed cassettes travelled the country over, mapping enduring networks.
President Collor reduced import tariffs in 1990, making equipment and record-
ings accessible to more aspiring rockers, just as the majors shifted resources away
from rock. Established names migrated to MPB or romantic music. New bands
opted for pop or regionalized rock, like Chico Science & Nação Zumbi, who pro-
pogated mangue bit, and Raimundos, creators of forrócore. Multicultural bands like
Obina Shock and X-GRANITO borrowed from African and Anglo traditions, fur-
ther hybridizing rock brasileiro. Indie labels, like Monstro Discos and Sílvia Re-
cords, community organizations like the Cearense Cultural Association of Rock,
and festivals like Porão do Rock fortified local scenes. Rappa, Skank, CPM 22,
and Mundo Livre S/A are among few major-label national names, while bands like
Ação Direta, Mukeka di Rato, DFC, Death Slam, and Besthöven utilize virtual net-
works to reach large publics at home and abroad. Since 2000, the Latin Grammys
have awarded a Best Brazilian Rock Album.
342 | Rock en Español
Further Reading
Alexandre, Ricardo. Dias de luta: o rock e o Brasil dos anos 80. São Paulo: DBA, 2002.
Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music Page 58
