Creolization in Caribbean Music - "Spanish Speaking"

Portfolio Spanish Speaking 

This will be the final blog as the end of my school semester is approaching. It was lots of fun doing these blogs. But for now, let's focus on the good! I will continue to write about Caribbean music's Creolization. It will, however, focus on Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries.

An island paradise with a sun-kissed Caribbean climate, rich history and culture, exceptional food, pristine beaches, majestic mountains, relaxation, and adventure, is Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is an island where the old world blends with the new. With that being said the Creolized music genre I will focus on from this island is Plena music. A Puerto Rican Plena is a short narrative song that satirically (criticizes) a person or an event.  The music of Plena combines African and Latin American influences, as its characteristics use a mixture of African rhythms, vocals, and dance. In the Plena, the soloist and chorus alternate stanzas and refrains. In Puerto Rico and abroad, many Plenas are known as classics of traditional music.

Below you will find an artist, instruments, and performance that match this musical style:

    

    The photo was taken from "https://images.app.goo.gl/e17roDxaDKJXjchf8"

     Here is a group and performance that fits this style: 

    The photo was taken from "https://www.newyorklatinculture.com/plena-libre/"

Now take a watch and listen to the group Plena Libre perform one of their hit songs "Medley Plena Pa'ti" 

The video was taken from "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paEKMqBoKB4" 

When doing some research I was drawn to this group for various reasons. Firstly, their music combines that of Plena and Bomba, while still having a touch of other Afro-Cuban styles. With that being said, I chose this song as well as the group because I really love how they executed the genre of Plena. For starters, the song is very energetic, and you can hear the heavy percussion. Furthermore, throughout this song, they really use the call-and-response, along with polyrhythms to bring out the groove of the song. Continuing, when you listen closely, you can hear a bit of the mambo, and salsa style which brings out the song. 

Just a moment! Things are getting better! In addition to cultural factors, creolization has a significant impact on other factors as well. This time, we will be looking at religion. In a previous blog, we spoke about Cuban music styles, now it is time to talk about a creolized religion found on one of this Spanish Caribbean Island. The creolized religion found in Cuba is known as The Cuban Santeria or the Regla de Ocha. Santeria's roots came from the religion known as The Lucumi. However, during the 17th century, when slaves were imported to Cuba, they were banned from practicing their religious traditions. As a result, they disguised their Gods as Catholic figures to worship them. The Cuban Santeria combines catholicism and the Lucumi religion to become creolized. It is believed by followers of The Santeria that one God created the universe and that orishas, which are lesser divine beings, care for the world.

Below is an Image of the Cuban Santeria, as well as a video.

The photo was taken from: "https://www.apollofilm.com/en/films/filmprojekte-en/cuban-santeria-divinities-and-trance-rituals" 

Below is a video that gives an insight into what Cuban Santeria is.

The video was taken from "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAEv4XLU16s"

I really loved this video, because not only does it talk about the roots of the Cuban Santeria, it shows us the things that they do, or perform within the religion.  I think the most interesting part of this video was when the Santeria Priestess stated that they clean the house with turtle water, that part had me a bit shocked, because wouldn't turtle water be dirty?  Furthermore, this video also gave the believer's point of view of the religion which really shows they strongly believe in their religion. Finally, the video also shows that Santeria is not just a religion, but rather a reflection of the Cuban personality. 

The photo was taken from "https://www.deviantart.com/toon1990/art/That-s-all-Folks-Space-Jam-736628789

 

References:

Howard, K. (2019). Puerto Rican Plena: The Power of a Song. General Music Today, 32(2), 36–39. "https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1048371318809971?journalCode=gmtb" 

Duany, J. (1990). “Salsa,” “Plena,” and “Danza”: Recent Materials on Puerto Rican Popular Music [Review of Salsa: Latin Music of New York and Puerto Rico; Salsa! The Latin Music of New York and Puerto Rico; Plena Is Work, Plena Is Song; Music, Social Classes, and the National Question of Puerto Rico, by J. Marre, H. Charlton, P. A. Rivera, S. Zeig, & A. G. Quintero Rivera]. Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana, 11(2), 286–296. "https://www.jstor.org/stable/780128"

Murphy, J. M. (2023, February 2). Santería. Encyclopedia Britannica. "https://www.britannica.com/topic/Santeria"

Bascom, W. R. (1950). The Focus of Cuban Santeria. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, 6(1), 64–68. "http://www.jstor.org/stable/3628691"

Altman, I.  The Spanish Caribbean, 1492–1550. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History. Retrieved 6 Apr. 2023, from "https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-630."