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Merenhouse
Merenhouse, Merenrap or Electronic merengue, Mambo/Mambo de Calle is a style of Dominican Merengue music derived by blending it with dancehall, hip hop and house, particularly latin house. The mix of Latin, house and dancehall music started in New York City in the late 1980s.
Merenhouse usually employs rap-singing or talk-singing. It has instruments that are typically in Merengue music, such as saxophones, trumpets, accordions, bass, guitar, güira, and tambora, a kind of drum. However, it can be combined with electronic sounds or even electronic sounds sampled from the actual instruments (much like house music). Sampling music consists of reusing a sample or portion of a sound recording in a song. Merenhouse is very upbeat and intended for dancing, similar to house music; it is hard to identify merenhouse basing only on its time signature and its rhythm alone: some of them are in a fast 2/4 beat and has typical Merengue rhythms, while some other are in a slower 4/4 beat, identifying more with the hip hop style. Merenhouse can be characterized mostly by the using of instruments/electronics and the combination of vocal styles.
The hybrid music known as Merenrap, Merenhouse, or Latin house was formed in the 1980s in New York City. Jorge Oquendo, an entrepreneur, encouraged artists to blend these genres. Lisa M mixed merengue with hip hop/rap in her second album released in 1990. Latin house, in turn, combines house, rap, Latin rhythms and Caribbean music.
Dominican Merengue can be considered an expression of Dominican transnationalism, as there was a significant shift in the migration of Dominicans to New York in the twentieth century. As a musical hybrid, merenhouse was popular with a generation of bicultural youth growing up in New York with Dominican roots that combined both aspects of their culture. Merenhouse is also a symbol of national identity to Dominican Americans.
The early 1990s saw a huge increase in immigration to the United States from the Dominican Republic due largely to the greatly deteriorating economic situation of the Dominican Republic in the 1980s and early 1990s. New York City saw the bulk of this initial Dominican population growth, and once those first Dominican immigrates got settled in, New York 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, Manhattan-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. 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.
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 which emerged during the early 20th century. Merengue has varying styles and a very distinct rhythm. During its beginnings, it included call-and-response vocals, a Spanish guitar, and a box lamellophone called the "Congolese marimbula". These instruments were later replaced with the acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, German accordion, the tambora, a West African two-headed drum, and the güira, which is a metal scraper. In the 1930s, Merengue was modernized and became the national symbol of the Dominican Republic, because orchestras played for the middle class and social elite. The sound became that of a more generic Latin band, and this included an instrument replacement for the piano, staple percussion and the acoustic bass. Merengue, in which merenhouse is based upon, developed in the 1980s and 1990s, and 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.
Genres that were popular during the 1990s in New York City greatly influenced Dominican Americans to create "Merenhouse/Merenrap":
Reggae Reggae music, known as the Heartbeat of Jamaica, was born in this island in the late 1960s and derives from multiple indigenous genres, such as Ska (the first style to be born outside the United States, that is always in Jamaica in the late 1950s), and Rocksteady (also born in the same country, around 1966). It includes instruments like the bass drum, snare drum, keyboards, and guitars. When one thinks of Reggae music, first thinks of the Rastafari religion, which was created just in Jamaica during the 1930s; moreover, many associate Rastas and Reggae to its greatest representative, Bob Marley, also known as the Jamaican Icon.
Merenhouse
Merenhouse, Merenrap or Electronic merengue, Mambo/Mambo de Calle is a style of Dominican Merengue music derived by blending it with dancehall, hip hop and house, particularly latin house. The mix of Latin, house and dancehall music started in New York City in the late 1980s.
Merenhouse usually employs rap-singing or talk-singing. It has instruments that are typically in Merengue music, such as saxophones, trumpets, accordions, bass, guitar, güira, and tambora, a kind of drum. However, it can be combined with electronic sounds or even electronic sounds sampled from the actual instruments (much like house music). Sampling music consists of reusing a sample or portion of a sound recording in a song. Merenhouse is very upbeat and intended for dancing, similar to house music; it is hard to identify merenhouse basing only on its time signature and its rhythm alone: some of them are in a fast 2/4 beat and has typical Merengue rhythms, while some other are in a slower 4/4 beat, identifying more with the hip hop style. Merenhouse can be characterized mostly by the using of instruments/electronics and the combination of vocal styles.
The hybrid music known as Merenrap, Merenhouse, or Latin house was formed in the 1980s in New York City. Jorge Oquendo, an entrepreneur, encouraged artists to blend these genres. Lisa M mixed merengue with hip hop/rap in her second album released in 1990. Latin house, in turn, combines house, rap, Latin rhythms and Caribbean music.
Dominican Merengue can be considered an expression of Dominican transnationalism, as there was a significant shift in the migration of Dominicans to New York in the twentieth century. As a musical hybrid, merenhouse was popular with a generation of bicultural youth growing up in New York with Dominican roots that combined both aspects of their culture. Merenhouse is also a symbol of national identity to Dominican Americans.
The early 1990s saw a huge increase in immigration to the United States from the Dominican Republic due largely to the greatly deteriorating economic situation of the Dominican Republic in the 1980s and early 1990s. New York City saw the bulk of this initial Dominican population growth, and once those first Dominican immigrates got settled in, New York 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, Manhattan-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. 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.
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 which emerged during the early 20th century. Merengue has varying styles and a very distinct rhythm. During its beginnings, it included call-and-response vocals, a Spanish guitar, and a box lamellophone called the "Congolese marimbula". These instruments were later replaced with the acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, German accordion, the tambora, a West African two-headed drum, and the güira, which is a metal scraper. In the 1930s, Merengue was modernized and became the national symbol of the Dominican Republic, because orchestras played for the middle class and social elite. The sound became that of a more generic Latin band, and this included an instrument replacement for the piano, staple percussion and the acoustic bass. Merengue, in which merenhouse is based upon, developed in the 1980s and 1990s, and 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.
Genres that were popular during the 1990s in New York City greatly influenced Dominican Americans to create "Merenhouse/Merenrap":
Reggae Reggae music, known as the Heartbeat of Jamaica, was born in this island in the late 1960s and derives from multiple indigenous genres, such as Ska (the first style to be born outside the United States, that is always in Jamaica in the late 1950s), and Rocksteady (also born in the same country, around 1966). It includes instruments like the bass drum, snare drum, keyboards, and guitars. When one thinks of Reggae music, first thinks of the Rastafari religion, which was created just in Jamaica during the 1930s; moreover, many associate Rastas and Reggae to its greatest representative, Bob Marley, also known as the Jamaican Icon.