It has instruments that are typically in merengue music, such as saxophones, trumpets, accordion, bass, guitar, güira, tambora (drum).
Some merenhouse music is in a fast 2/4 beat and has typical merengue style rhythms.
As a musical hybrid, merenhouse was popular with a generation of bicultural youth growing up in New York City with Dominican roots that combined both aspects of their culture.
Merengue is one example of the many pieces of Dominican culture brought during this period of immigration, which was a key element to the creation of Merenhouse.
[3][4] The new style was most importantly influenced by Merengue, the national music and dance of the Dominican Republic.
It is in a fast 2/4 beat that has African, Creole, and European origins that emerged during the early 20th century.
[5] During its beginnings, it included call-and-response vocals, a Spanish guitar, and a box lamellophone called the Congolese marimbula.
These instruments were replaced with the acoustic guitar, bass, German accordion, the tambora (a West African two headed drum), and a güira, which is a metal scraper.
[7] Rap/Hip-Hop The beginnings of hip hop music/rap can be traced back to the Bronx, NY in the 1960s and 1970s where wall graffiti started to gain popularity with the prevalence of street gangs.
The term "hip hop" encompasses all of these elements, including rap, DJing, MCing, break dancing and graffiti.