Module 5

Title: Oye Mi Canto

Performer: Nore ft. Nina Sky, Daddy Yankee, Big Mato, and Gem Star

Culture/Origin: Transnational/Hispanic Caribbean

Orchestration: Female vocals, male vocals/rappers, drum machine, synthesizer

Reggaeton is a recent type of music that has its roots in the Hispanic Caribbean.  Moore (2010) describes it as a blend of black North American Music (rap specifically) and has influences of folkloric genres of the Hispanic Caribbean.  It incorporates a rhythm called the Dem Bow, which is almost identical to the habanera.  The verses of reggaeton are in Spanish and recited by rapping rather than singing.  Rap in America is often characterized as a manner of expressing feelings for young people.  Campbell (2004) describes creating music as creating and re-creating as an expressive art form.  The potential for new musical expressions can emerge from an outgrowth of experience and training in a wide variety of musical traditions.  For reggaeton, this is especially true.  The Hispanic Caribbean is has a blend of cultures, yet specific types of music are fundamentally important to people of any given area there.  Preserving tradition of the culture and expressing views through rap is the basis for reggaeton music and it is a major part of lives of the young people within this given area.  It has also gained popularity in America among non-Latino listeners even with the language difference.