Makeeda Warrington

Professor Garcia

SPA202

6/13/2020

Black Influence and the African Roots in Latin Music

“Some folks may think of the music that came from the U.S. and Latin America as

separate entities divided by geography and ethnicity. But the two are more connected than you’d

think” (Brent Crampton). What he was trying to say was both the United States and Latin

America share if not the same, very similar history and cultures. Just like the black people in

history who moved around and migrated to various places so did the Spanish. And with them,

they too brought their own culture and music with them to the new world. Overtime, the black

community and culture began to influence Spanish culture particularly the music. Without those

influences it is safe to assume that we would not have the Latin music we now have today.

According to an article by Peter Petrov “At busy ports all over, slaves and natives

mingled and exchanged their unique takes on different rhythms, dances, and songs, giving birth

to spontaneous musical collisions that could never be replicated in the very same way

elsewhere.” What he is saying is that whenever the natives and slaves mixed and shared their

cultures with each other they would also pick up other cultures along the way and begin to merge

them with their own. And as he expresses in his articles through all this many dances and genres

of music were created, practiced and later celebrated. In fact, many of the most popular Latin

dances such as the samba, salsa, merengue, bachata and timba could not have been without its

most dominant musical influence, African.

 In order for it to continue to thrive as it has been thus far people need to honor the fact

that reggaeton is thanks to the Jamaican immigrants through panama. According to a journalist,

Isabella Raygoza “the genre reggaeton exploded into uncharted territory with Daddy Yankee’s

2004 release of ‘Gasolina’ and so it paved the way for the first international wave”. While todays

wave is led by a greater number of new and upcoming artists, it is still the Jamaicans immigrants

we must thank for bringing culture through panama and by extension to the rest of the world. We

should be honored and grateful to able to indulge in such music and culture. If it was not for the

Africans and Caribbean people of the past who decided to share it with others in order to create

the different genres and music we have today.

 Reference Page

baker, lindsey anne. The Intersection of Africa with Latin Music. 10 Sept. 2018,
www.omahamagazine.com/2018/09/10/301692/the-intersection-of-africa-with-latin-music.
petrov, peter. “Fascinating History and Origins of Latin Music.” CultureOwl, 28 Feb. 2019,
www.cultureowl.com/miami/blogs/music/fascinating-history-and-origins-of-latin-music-
26.
Malone, Gloria. “Understanding the Complexities of Latin Trap.” BeLatina, 18 June 2019,
belatina.com/is-there-a-future-for-latin-trap-music/.
Raygoza, isabella. “Scene to Watch: The International Rise of Reggaeton.” SoundCloud Blog, 9
Dec. 2019, blog.soundcloud.com/2019/12/08/scene-to-watch-the-international-rise-of-
reggaeton/.