Greetings Everyone,

In a previous post, I expressed my disappointment in the music that’s being marketed here in the United States; namely Hip Hop and Trap&B (formerly known as R&B). It feels like the industry’s primary goal nowadays is to promote degeneracy and socially engineer the masses, particularly young people, to take pride in it. But there is a genre of music throughout the western hemisphere that still gets my attention and respect, mainly due to its fun-loving messages and sound. And that’s Afro-Caribbean music.

According to Enciclopedia De Puerto Rico, Afro-Caribbean rhythms are a product of various human movements; the first being a combination of the experiences of Africans and their descendants on the Iberian Peninsula beginning in 711, which brought them into contact with Central Europeans and West Africans (who had the most profound impact on the music). The development of the slave trade from that region fed the neo-African and mixed-race cultures that were born and developed on both sides of the Atlantic. The first music of the mix-raced people and cultures was the Afro-Andalusian songbook, which was brought over to the Americas after 1492 by the sailors and first settlers.

They advised that the drum plays a central role in the music; “as seen in the rhythms of the Bushee Negro (descendants of escaped African slaves) of French Guiana, the Regla de Ocha (Santeria) of Cuba, the religion of the Orishas or Chango in Trinidad and Tobago, the Revival Zion and Pocomania of Jamaica, up to the Garifunas of Guatemala, Honduras and Belize.” But the sound also includes string instruments “such as the harp in the jarocho music of Veracruz in Mexico, the Central American marimba tradition that extends to the currulao music of Buenaventura on the Pacific coast of Colombia and to concert music.” Some of the popular ones include Calypso, Soca, Ska, Reggae, and Junkanoo; which I happen to be a fan of.

Multiculturalism is rooted in the sound of the Caribbean, and the energy and creativity are on a whole other level. That’s the main reason why I enjoy the genre so much. If you have any additional information on Caribbean music and its history, feel free to comment below. But in the meantime, let’s vibe to some tunes.

Until Next Time…

(Sources)

Goitia, D. A. (2011, December 22). MUSIC OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA IN THE CARIBBEAN. Retrieved August 3, 2018, from https://enciclopediapr.org/en/encyclopedia/music-of-the-african-diaspora-in-the-caribbean/

Caribbean Music. (n.d.). Retrieved August 3, 2018, from http://www.uky.edu/~cecilia/MUSIC/Caribbean/