Merenrap
Encyclopedia
Merenhouse/Merenrap, (merenrap or merenhouse) is a hip hop
music style formed by blending Dominican
merengue music
with rap
, dancehall reggae and hip hop
.
by Latin Americans. They wanted to preserve their Dominican roots as well as adapt to their new environment making it a result of transnationalism
. Domincan Merengue music
can be considered an expression of Dominican transnationalism
, as there was a significant shift in migration of Domincans to New York City
in the twentieth century. It is not surprising that merenhouse, a musical hybrid, was popular to a generation of bicultural youth growing up in New York City
with Dominican roots that combined both aspects of their culture. Merenhouse is a symbol of national identity to Dominican Americans,easily identified by a euphoric sound.
In order to understand this style of music, it is important to look at the genres that influenced this new style most importantly Merengue
. Merengue is the national music and dance of the Domincan Republic. It is a fast, two-step that has African, Creole
, and Europe
an origins that emerged during the early 20th Century. Merengue music
has varying styles and a very distinct rhythm, which makes it distinct from any other particular genre of music. During its beginnings it included call-and-response vocals, a Spanish guitar
, a box lamellophone called the Congolese marimbula
. These instruments were replaced with the acoustic bass
, German accordion
, the tambora (a West African two headed drum), the guira
, which is a metal scrapper. In the 1930s, Merengue became modernized and became the national symbol of the Dominican Republic. Orchestras played for the middle class and social elite dancehall
. The sound became that of a more generic Latin band. This included instrument replacement for the piano
, staple percussion and bass
. The Merengue in which Merenhouse mimicked developed during the 1980s and 1990s. It resulted from Juan Luis Guerra
’s incorporation of more modern sounding arrangements and socially relevant themes. He was also influenced by pop
and jazz
music.
greatly influenced Dominican Americans to create Merenhouse/Merenrap:
Reggae
Reggae
known as “the heartbeat of Jamaica.” This genre consists of everything from dancehall
, ska
, and dub
. Instruments include the snare
, bass drums, keyboards, and guitars. When many think of Reggae, they first think of the Rastafarian religion, which was created during the 1930s. Many associate Rastas and Reggae
because of Bob Marley, the Jamaican Icon.
Rap/Hip-Hop
The beginnings or 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 musical style rap
was the result of multiple influences including the Jamaican style of music “toasting” and several different styles of Deejaying. DJ styles such as scratching (invented by a DJ named Theodor) and “punch phasing.” Rap
can be defined as a style of music where the lyrics are half spoken, half sung in short phrases accompanied by a musical beat in the background. The term “hip hop
” encompasses all of these elements, including Rap
, DJing, MCing, break dancing and graffiti
.
House music
House music
is considered a type of electronic dance music
which spawned from Chicago, IL, and it is heavily influenced by disco
. The synthesizer
is most commonly associated with electronic dance music
and the music is often characterized by its continuous and repetitive beat. This sub-genre of electronic dance music
was influenced heavily by DJ Knuckles, who moved from playing other’s records to making his own music. There are many sub-genres of House music
, including “acid house
,” “Latin house
,” “jungle
,” and “techno
,” as well as many more. This music also has close ties to hip hop
.
saw the bulk of this initial Dominican population growth, and once those first Dominican immigrates got settled in, New York City
became the hub of Dominican culture in the US. “By 1990, an estimated 900,000 Dominicans - 12 percent of the country’s population - lived in New York City
alone.” Dominicans also “tend to be more concentrated residing exclusively in barrios or ghettos like Washington Heights-Inwood, home to 59% of Dominicans registered by the INS.” This potent concentration of Dominicans all in one place allowed them to bring in their own culture while they assimilated into the melting pot of cultures found in New York City
. 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.
is a Merenhouse group from the Dominican Republic. They have received acclaim from being one of the first groups to combine Merengue and House music
, selling around 2 million albums around the world.
Proyecto Uno
is a Dominican-American merenrap group which helped popularize a musical style that blends Merengue with rap
, techno
, dancehall reggae,and hip hop
. The group won Billboard Latin Music Awards, Premios Los Nuestro, and an Emmy Award.
Ilegales
(also called Los Ilegales) is a Grammy-nominated Dominican Merenhouse trio. They reached the Billboard Tropical charts and were nominated for a Latin Grammy award for "Best Pop Album."
Dark Latin Groove (or DLC) is a salsa
band that mixes salsa, reggae
, reggaeton
, and hip hop
. The group was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Tropical Album" and Premio Los Nuestro award for "Best Tropical Group."
Proyecto Uno "Pumpin"
Ilegales "Me Haces Daño"
Dark Latin Groove "Juliana"
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
music style formed by blending Dominican
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
merengue music
Merengue music
Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
with rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
, dancehall reggae and hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
.
History
Merenhouse originated during the 1990s in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by Latin Americans. They wanted to preserve their Dominican roots as well as adapt to their new environment making it a result of transnationalism
Transnationalism
Transnationalism is a social movement and scholarly research agenda grown out of the heightened interconnectivity between people and the receding economic and social significance of boundaries among nation states....
. Domincan Merengue music
Merengue music
Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
can be considered an expression of Dominican transnationalism
Transnationalism
Transnationalism is a social movement and scholarly research agenda grown out of the heightened interconnectivity between people and the receding economic and social significance of boundaries among nation states....
, as there was a significant shift in migration of Domincans to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in the twentieth century. It is not surprising that merenhouse, a musical hybrid, was popular to a generation of bicultural youth growing up in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with Dominican roots that combined both aspects of their culture. Merenhouse is a symbol of national identity to Dominican Americans,easily identified by a euphoric sound.
In order to understand this style of music, it is important to look at the genres that influenced this new style most importantly Merengue
Merengue music
Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
. Merengue is the national music and dance of the Domincan Republic. It is a fast, two-step that has African, Creole
Creole peoples
The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...
, and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an origins that emerged during the early 20th Century. Merengue music
Merengue music
Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
has varying styles and a very distinct rhythm, which makes it distinct from any other particular genre of music. During its beginnings it included call-and-response vocals, a Spanish guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, a box lamellophone called the Congolese marimbula
Marímbula
A marímbula is a folk musical instrument of the Caribbean Islands . The marímbula is usually classified as part of the lamellophone family of musical instruments. With its roots in African instruments, marimbula originated in the province of Oriente, Cuba in the 19th century...
. These instruments were replaced with the acoustic bass
Acoustic bass guitar
The acoustic bass guitar is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually somewhat larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar...
, German accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, the tambora (a West African two headed drum), the guira
Güira
A güira is a percussion instrument from the Dominican Republic, generally used in merengue, bachata, and its subgenres, that sounds like a maraca or hi-hat but in fact is a sheet of metal—in practice, often from a five gallon oil can—evenly perforated with a nail, shaped into a cylinder or...
, which is a metal scrapper. In the 1930s, Merengue became modernized and became the national symbol of the Dominican Republic. Orchestras played for the middle class and social elite dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
. The sound became that of a more generic Latin band. This included instrument replacement for the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, staple percussion and bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
. The Merengue in which Merenhouse mimicked developed during the 1980s and 1990s. It resulted from Juan Luis Guerra
Juan Luis Guerra
Juan Luis Guerra is a singer, songwriter and producer from the Dominican Republic who has sold over 30 million records, and won numerous awards including 12 Latin Grammy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Latin Billboard Music Awards...
’s incorporation of more modern sounding arrangements and socially relevant themes. He was also influenced by pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music.
Music Influences
Genres that were popular during the 1990s in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
greatly influenced Dominican Americans to create Merenhouse/Merenrap:
Reggae
Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
known as “the heartbeat of Jamaica.” This genre consists of everything from dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, and dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
. Instruments include the snare
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, bass drums, keyboards, and guitars. When many think of Reggae, they first think of the Rastafarian religion, which was created during the 1930s. Many associate Rastas and Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
because of Bob Marley, the Jamaican Icon.
Rap/Hip-Hop
The beginnings or hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
/rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
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 musical style rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
was the result of multiple influences including the Jamaican style of music “toasting” and several different styles of Deejaying. DJ styles such as scratching (invented by a DJ named Theodor) and “punch phasing.” Rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
can be defined as a style of music where the lyrics are half spoken, half sung in short phrases accompanied by a musical beat in the background. The term “hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
” encompasses all of these elements, including Rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
, DJing, MCing, break dancing and graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
.
House music
House music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
is considered a type of electronic dance music
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
which spawned from Chicago, IL, and it is heavily influenced by disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
. The synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
is most commonly associated with electronic dance music
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
and the music is often characterized by its continuous and repetitive beat. This sub-genre of electronic dance music
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
was influenced heavily by DJ Knuckles, who moved from playing other’s records to making his own music. There are many sub-genres of House music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
, including “acid house
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
,” “Latin house
Latin house
Latin house is an electronic dance music subgenre that mixes together house and Latin American music, such as that of Brazilian, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban, Dominican and Colombian origin.-Origins:...
,” “jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
,” and “techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
,” as well as many more. This music also has close ties to hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
.
NYC and Dominicans in the Twentieth Century
The early 1990s saw a huge increase in immigration to the US from the Dominican Republic due largely to the greatly deteriorating economic situation of the Dominican Republic in the 1980s and early 1990s. New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
saw the bulk of this initial Dominican population growth, and once those first Dominican immigrates got settled in, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
became the hub of Dominican culture in the US. “By 1990, an estimated 900,000 Dominicans - 12 percent of the country’s population - lived in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
alone.” Dominicans also “tend to be more concentrated residing exclusively in barrios or ghettos like Washington Heights-Inwood, home to 59% of Dominicans registered by the INS.” This potent concentration of Dominicans all in one place allowed them to bring in their own culture while they assimilated into the melting pot of cultures found in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Merengue
Merengue music
Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
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.
Influential Artists
FulanitoFulanito
Fulanito, a group of Dominicans born in the United States, has received acclaim in Latin America for being among the first groups to combine Merengue , with about 2 million albums sold throughout the world...
is a Merenhouse group from the Dominican Republic. They have received acclaim from being one of the first groups to combine Merengue and House music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
, selling around 2 million albums around the world.
Proyecto Uno
Proyecto Uno
Proyecto Uno is a Dominican-American merenrap group which helped popularize a style of music which blends merengue with rap, techno, dancehall reggae and hip-hop music. The band was founded in New York City's East Side in 1989 by Nelson Zapata and managed by Porfirio "Popi" Piña...
is a Dominican-American merenrap group which helped popularize a musical style that blends Merengue with rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
, techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
, dancehall reggae,and hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
. The group won Billboard Latin Music Awards, Premios Los Nuestro, and an Emmy Award.
Ilegales
Ilegales
Ilegales is a Grammy-nominated Dominican merenhouse trio, founded in 1995 The group is led by singer-songwriter Vladimir Dotel and comprises Dotel, Juan Carlos Campos, and Lumy Pimentel. In addition to reaching the Billboard Tropical charts on their own, the group also had a hit with Alexandra...
(also called Los Ilegales) is a Grammy-nominated Dominican Merenhouse trio. They reached the Billboard Tropical charts and were nominated for a Latin Grammy award for "Best Pop Album."
Dark Latin Groove (or DLC) is a salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
band that mixes salsa, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, reggaeton
Reggaeton
Reggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
, and hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
. The group was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Tropical Album" and Premio Los Nuestro award for "Best Tropical Group."
Music Videos
Fulanito "Guallando"Proyecto Uno "Pumpin"
Ilegales "Me Haces Daño"
Dark Latin Groove "Juliana"