WHAT DEFINES THE SOUND: A smooth, jazzy style combining classical guitar with soft, understated vocals. Lyrics are subtle but romantic.
HISTORICAL ROOTS: Its origins are in samba, a style that developed in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century.
KEY ORIGINATING ARTISTS: João Gilberto, Vinicius de Moraes, Antônio Carlos Jobim
Bossa Nova emerged as a calmer, softer form of the danceable samba, popular during Brazil’s annual Lenten carnival. Vocalist João Gilberto began experimenting with jazz sounds with his guitar in the late 1950s, a period of cultural effervescence. Bossa Nova (loosely translated as “new trend”) first appeared in the 1959 album by Brazilian singer Elizete Cardoso, Canção do Amor Demais, in which Gilberto played guitar on two tracks composed by de Moraes and Jobim. That same year, Gilberto released his own debut album, Chega de Saudade, and immediately became part of a new cultural movement, with the two composers.
The Bossa Nova sound attracted jazz musicians like Stan Getz, who collaborated with Gilberto in the now classic 1964 album Getz/Gilberto, which included the hit “Garota de Ipanema” (“Girl from Ipanema”). Sérgio Mendes and Brazil 66 pushed it further with “Mas Que Nada.”
TANGO
WHERE IT’S FROM: The Río de la Plata region of Argentina and Uruguay
WHAT DEFINES THE SOUND: The bandoneón (a type of accordion) is the essential sound of this dramatic, danceable form. Tango can be strictly instrumental, but when it is sung, the lyrics can be philosophical, decry social ills or express passionate love.
HISTORICAL ROOTS: European immigrants in Montevideo and Buenos Aires combined European ballroom dances with African rhythms brought to the Americas in the slave trade.
KEY ORIGINATING ARTISTS: Rosendo Mendizábal, Vicente Greco, Carlos Gardel, Astor Piazzola
Tango originated in the 1880s in the dance halls and brothels of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, as a dance form in which couples embraced. In the late 19th century, the bandoneón was introduced by German immigrants, and by the early 20th century, it became an essential part of tango.
A major change was introduced when singer Carlos Gardel recorded the first song composed to be performed as a tango, “Mi Noche Triste,” about doomed love. Gardel would go on to record hundreds of tangos and become the genre’s biggest star. His composition "El Día Que Me Quieras” is considered a masterpiece and has had multiple versions worldwide.
Gardel also starred in dozens of movies he produced under a distribution deal with Paramount Pictures. He died in a plane crash in Colombia in 1935, but his music continues to be played by legions of fans throughout the Americas.
REGGAETÓN
WHERE IT’S FROM: Panama, Puerto Rico
WHAT DEFINES THE SOUND: A loud, driving drum-machine track featuring the dembow rhythm, a syncopated beat pattern repeated in almost every song. The lyrics are often about erotic love, inspiring a sensual dance move known as perreo.
HISTORICAL ROOTS: Jamaican reggae and dancehall recordings. In Puerto Rico, musicians incorporated hip hop and the island’s folk genres of bomba and plena.
KEY ORIGINATING ARTISTS: El General, Vico C, Don Omar, Daddy Yankee
RELATED GENRES: Reggae, Dancehall, Trap
Since the beginning of the 20th century, when Jamaican laborers were imported to build the Panama Canal, Panamanian musicians recorded Spanish versions of reggae hits. In the 1980s, El General and other artists began recording original songs combining elements of hip hop with reggae. In Puerto Rico, rapper Vico C was doing the same thing with his cassette recordings.
In the early 1990s, the term reggaetón was coined in Puerto Rico, and began to be used widely by artists like Don Chezina, Speedy and Wisin and Yandel. In 2004, albums by N.O.R.E. and Daddy Yankee became huge hits among Latinos in the United States, and artists like Don Omar, Tito El Bambino and Tego Calderón began traveling to Europe, where reggaetón gained immense popularity.
