Afro-Caribbean music
[2] These distinctive musical art forms came about from the cultural mingling of African, Indigenous, and European inhabitants.
These sub-genres include: son cubano, salsa, calypso, soca, mento, ska, reggae and merengue.
[6] Some of the earlier afro-Caribbean sub-genres to emerge included calypso, merengue, son, reggae and salsa.
[6] Due to multiple problems with production and distribution, music from the region struggled initially to gain global popularity.
[6] Afro-Caribbean music rose to popularity during the 20th century, exerting influence over many subsequent genres including jazz and hip-hop.
[4][1] Many of these sub-genres have been validated in recent years due to a newfound appreciation of afro-Caribbean culture and tradition.
[1] In the United States, the genre has gained popularity due to the mass media infrastructure, large immigrant population and receptive non-Caribbean audiences.
[1] The origin of afro-Caribbean music traces back to the 15th century and the arrival of African people in the Caribbean via the transatlantic slave trade.
[8] The abolition of slavery restricted afro-Caribbean music in one way as it led to a decreased number of slaves arriving from Africa and a weakened link between African people living in the Caribbean and their homeland.
[9] Afro-Caribbean music is characterised by the combined influence of African, European and indigenous Caribbean cultures.
[3] Examples of African vocal characteristics include call-and-response invocations and textually repetitious, simple lyrics.
[12] This is largely reflective of the fact that many slaves were from Western or Central Africa due to their proximity to the Atlantic seaboard.
[13] The lyrics of afro-Caribbean music are most commonly in European languages such as Spanish, English or French.
[5] Traditional elements such as call-and-response style singing and the use of percussive instruments (such as Güiros and Maracas) are reflected in afro-Caribbean music.
[18] Once arriving in the Caribbean, the cinquillo beat was transformed and refined, in countries such as Haiti and Cuba, to fit the evolving afro-Caribbean music genre.
[20] Traditionally, a batá drum would consist of a wooden base with drumheads made of skin, pulled taut, at each end.
[20] This particular variety of drum originated in Nigeria among the Yoruba people and was once an instrument used for religious purposes to worship the African Orishas.
[22] Bongos are tapered, single headed drums that are usually composed of a wooden base with an animal hide drumhead.
[23] In contrast, the hembra bongo is considered the female of the pair and produces low, deep sounds.
[23] The congas and bongos originated in Cuba among African slaves and are key instruments of the afro-Caribbean music genre.
[18] Modern day claves originated in Cuba[18] and are reminiscent of early percussive instruments present in ancient, indigenous civilisations all around the world, including Africa and South America.
[25] Main article: Maracas Maracas (also called boîte à de clous, caraxa, mussamba) are handheld rattles consisting of a hollow vessel (such as a Gourds or Turtle shells), filled with small items (such as Seeds, nuts or shells), attached to a handle.
[28] Main article: güiro The güiro (also called lero-lero, rape de bois, querēquezé, reposing tiger, reco-reco) is a form of scraper instrument, consisting of the body of the instrument – a cylindrical, hollowed out piece of wood with several notches on one side – and a scraping implement such as a stick or piece of wood.
[34] In addition to Son Cubano, salsa is influenced by the danzón, rumba, guaracha, cha-cha-cha, mambo and a variety of other afro-Caribbean genres.
[34][3] The Spanish influence of salsa music is seen through the Spanish-language song lyrics and use of European instruments such as the tres guitar.
[33] Key salsa instruments include bongos, Congas, claves, Maracas, Güiros and the piano.
[35][3] The simple harmonies, acoustic and Bass guitars present in Calypso music are due to European influence.
[35][36] African elements present in soca include the use of percussive instruments and the tresillo beat, which is reminiscent of music from Western Africa.
[1][41] The lyrics in reggae music are closely aligned with the Rastafarian religion and focus on themes of politics and spirituality.
[41][3] Mereng originated in Haiti as a fusion genre of traditional African music mixed with European elements.
