Discover Spain’s diverse musical legacy through its passionate flamenco to the catchy beats of reggaeton, from iconic genres such as salsa and merengue, to new artists making an impressionful mark in Spain today.
Flamenco is a highly complex art form involving singing, guitar playing and dance. Both its cante (singing) and toque (guitar playing) express profound emotion.
Hip Hop
As you walk through a bustling city square, the air vibrates with the passionate rhythms of flamenco guitar; just down the block from there can be heard the pulsing beats of reggaeton club music pulsing from within a club. These diverse sounds reflect Spain’s rich cultural legacy where traditional sounds mesh seamlessly with contemporary influences.
Spanish hip hop began to gain prominence during the 1990s. This genre merges American rap with Spanish culture and language to produce powerful lyrics that address social issues through powerful lyrics. Examples of popular Spanish hip hop artists include XXXTentacion and Kase.O.
Reggaeton
Reggaeton music draws its inspiration from a range of mainstream and alternative musical genres as well as urban cultural movements, with rhythm at its center.
Latin jazz music has long been a favorite genre, connecting to diverse audiences. Its upbeat quality promotes communal interaction among listeners, making it perfect dance music.
Reggaeton is an international phenomenon, spreading from Puerto Rico and Central America across to North America with artists like Daddy Yankee and J Balvin helping popularise it there and here.
Bad Bunny is an up-and-coming reggaeton artist with many songs in both English and Spanish, frequently breaking genre boundaries to collaborate with huge artists from other genres. Additionally, he was one of the first Latin trap artists – an emerging subgenre within reggaeton – in history.
Salsa
Salsa music hails from Cuba and Puerto Rico, drawing influence from other musical cultures worldwide such as jazz and Latin American dance styles. This phenomenon known as transculturation takes place when people from diverse cultural backgrounds come into contact through migration or contact.
Phonographs and radio enabled Caribbean musicians to exchange musical ideas among themselves and lead directly to the formation of salsa music.
A salsa song’s rhythm is determined by both its clave pattern and chord beats; these rhythms draw inspiration from West African traditions. Piano montunos and guajeo ostinato patterns are staples in salsa music; both these rhythms can align with either the 2:3 or 3:2 bell pattern.
Merengue
Merengue is a rhythmic dance music from the Dominican Republic which draws heavily upon African and European musical elements. It is thought to have originated with Spanish contradanse line dance popular during early to mid 19th century as well as African-Dominican cultural syncretism commonly found on sugar plantations estates.
Merengue de tipico (traditional merengue) evolved out of a rural style known as El Cibao and was predominantly played on guitar-based instruments until around 1870 when accordions became standard instruments among merengue musicians.
Merengue de orquesta (big-band orchestrated for saxophones, trumpets and trombones) gained prominence during Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship during the 1930s. Artists like Johnny Ventura and Wilfrido Vargas created small combo configurations with limited wind instruments that blended rock music influences, jazz tunes, soca music and reggae into one cohesive whole.
Tango
Tango originated in Spain and draws its inspiration from both mainstream and avant-garde musical genres and urban cultural movements. It is distinguished by rippling chorus-effected guitar lines with romantic themes.
Tango developed its own distinct identity over time, featuring legendary figures like El Cachafaz and its own language called lunfardo. The lyrics and music combine sensual melancholic themes with intense but fluid rhythms for maximum freedom of improvisation.
Tango music features instruments such as bandoneon, violin, piano and double bass that highlight its musician/dancer collaboration. When listening to tango music it becomes evident how intimately these musicians and dancers work together.