The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Romance-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music also incorporate the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Due to its highly syncretic nature, Latin American music encompasses a wide variety of styles, including influential genres such as cumbia, bachata, bossa nova, merengue, rumba, salsa, samba, son, and tango. During the 20th century, many styles were influenced by the music of the United States giving rise to genres such as Latin pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, and reggaeton.
The music of the Dominican Republic is primarily influenced by Western European music, with Sub-Saharan African and native Taino influences. The Dominican Republic is mainly known for its merengue and bachata music, both of which are the most famous styles of music in the Dominican Republic, and have been exported and popularized around the world.
The Music of Puerto Rico has evolved as a heterogeneous and dynamic product of diverse cultural resources. The most conspicuous musical sources of Puerto Rico have primarily included African, Taino Indigenous, and European influences. Puerto Rican music culture today comprises a wide and rich variety of genres, ranging from essentially native genres such as bomba, jíbaro, seis, danza, and plena to more recent hybrid genres such as salsa, Latin trap and reggaeton. Broadly conceived, the realm of "Puerto Rican music" should naturally comprise the music culture of the millions of people of Puerto Rican descent who have lived in the United States, especially in New York City. Their music, from salsa to the boleros of Rafael Hernández, cannot be separated from the music culture of Puerto Rico itself.
The music of Colombia is an expression of Colombian culture, music genres, both traditional and modern, according with the features of each geographic region, although it is not uncommon to find different musical styles in the same region. The diversity in musical expressions found in Colombia can be seen as the result of a mixture of Amerindian, African, and European influences, as well as more modern American.
Panama is a Central American country, inhabited mostly by mestizos. The music of Panama is heavily based on the folk music of Spain, particularly that of Andalusia and was influenced first by the indigenous populations of Kunas, Teribes, Ngobe Bugle and others, and then by the black population who were brought over, first as slaves from Africa, between the 16th century and the 19th century, and then voluntarily to work on the Panamanian Railroad and Canal projects between the 1840s and 1914.
Reggaeton, also known as reggaetón or reguetón, is a modern style of popular and electronic music that originated in Panamá during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puerto Rican musicians. It has been popularized and dominated by artists from Puerto Rico since the early 1990s.
The Music of Nicaragua contains a mixture of European, Indigenous, and African influences. Occasionally, it also rarely features Asian and Arab musical influences as well as from other countries of Hispanic and Latino origin. Musical instruments include the marimba and others that are common across Central America. Pop music includes performers from all around the world including Nicaraguans, Cubans, Brazilians, Mexicans, Panamanians, as well as those from Europe and the United States.
Music of Honduras is very varied. Punta is the main "ritmo" of Honduras with other music such as Paranda, Bachata, Caribbean salsa, cumbia, reggae, merengue, soca, calypso, dancehall, Reggaeton and most recently Afrobeats widely heard especially in the North the Department of Atlántida, to Mexican rancheras heard in the interior rural part of the country.
Bachatón is a fusion genre of reggaeton from Panama and Puerto Rico as well as bachata from the Dominican Republic. Bachaton combines bachata melodies and reggaeton style beats, lyrics, rapping, and disc jockeying. The word "bachatón" is a combination of "bachata" and "reggaeton". "Bachatón" was coined and widely accepted in 2005. It is a subgenre of reggaeton and bachata.
Tropical music is a term in the Latin music industry that refers to music genres deriving from or influenced by the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean. It includes the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean coastal regions of Colombia, Mexico, Central America and Venezuela.
Fogaraté! is the seventh album of the famous Dominican songwriter and musician Juan Luis Guerra. It was released on July 19, 1994. The album mixed a variety of music genres including rural and flolklroic rots of merengue called "Perico Ripao" with elements of African soukus music and Tropical Music such as Reggae with the collaboration of African guitarist Diblo Dibala and Dominican accordionist Francisco Ulloa, along with Son, Bachata and Salsa. Also, the album features a particular, bachata-styled adaptation of the Lacrimosa movement from Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor and Guerra's first song fully in English "July 19". Exploring lyrics and themes about magical realism of Latin American literature and commenting on the politics of the Caribbean, for many fans and critics, Fogaraté! is one of his most musically complex album.
Alternative reggaeton is a subgenre of reggaeton that emerged from the reggaeton movement as a reaction to its repetitive and monotone dembow rhythm, and the predominant stereotypical gangsta content that became predictable. The result was a complex sound derived from world sounds, mainly rooted in other Latin American music based genres such as bomba, plena, salsa, bachata, merengue, cumbia, tango and other foreign influenced music such as alternative rock, rock en español and Latin alternative. Mixed with thoughtful lyricism guided by an anti-colonialism discourse, Latin American sociopolitical content, and racial pride, it gave listeners a smooth blend of danceable rhythms and intellectual dialogue.
James Mui, known professionally as Chino Rodriguez, was an American musician and impresario who specialized in Latin music, salsa and Latin jazz.
A Son de Guerra, sometimes referred to as Asondeguerra, is the 11th studio album recorded by Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra, It was released by Capitol Latin on June 8, 2010. The album contains 11 tracks, and its musical structure and production are based on Merengue, Bachata, Son, Salsa, experimenting and incorporating elements of jazz, blues, funk, cumbia, rock, reggae, rap, and mambo. Lyrical themes on the album include protest against political corruption, immigration, love and romance. Featured appearances include Juanes and Chris Botti. For many fans and critics alike, it's his album with the most social content and strong social criticism since his 1992's Areito.
Máxima Alerta is a Cuban-American fusion music band known for its merging of Cuban reggaeton, or Cubaton, with traditional Cuban music and other Latin musical genres.
Urbano music or Latin urban is a transnational umbrella category including many different genres and styles. As an umbrella term it includes a wide and diverse set of genres and styles such as dancehall, dembow, urban champeta, funk carioca, Latin hip hop and reggaeton. The commercial breakthrough of this music took place in 2017 with artists from Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Puerto Rico, the United States, Venezuela and even non-Spanish-speaking nations, such as Brazil, where Portuguese is spoken.
This article includes an overview of trends in Latin music in the 1990s, namely in Ibero-America. This includes the rise and fall of various subgenres in Latin music from 1990 to 1999.
"El Costo de la Vida" is a song by Dominican Republic singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra from his sixth studio album, Areíto (1992). The song was released as the album's third single in 1992 by Karen Records. It is a Spanish-language adaptation of soukous song "Kimia Eve" composed by Diblo Dibala. The song features Dibala on the guitar and is performed by Guerra as a merengue number. The lyrics to the song provides a social commentary to the rising cost of living, while the artist denounces the dislevel of socioeconomics as well as political corruptions in Latin America. He also references the racial identities of Latin America.
