Brianna McClain

Unit 2 - Final Assessment Task - Part 2

Whether most people would like to accept the fact or not, Latin music was heavily
influenced by African American people. Since the dawn of Latin music there has been a big
controversy over the truth about the formation of Latin music. If you really look at all of the facts
it is more than evident that Latin music is based off of African roots. More people need to
research the topic at hand to find the truth. The truth which lies at hand is all Latin music has
black roots.
First, the way that all Latin music has black roots is proven through the sounds of Latin
rap. Latin or Spanish language rap is impacted by black culture, explicitly Southern hip-hop. It
started with Latin rappers taking known beats and remixing it to put their rhymes over it. Many
Black Latinx paved the way for recently discovered artists these days. Latin rap music was a
result from two types of music made by Black immigrants, which were hip hop and reggaeton.
Combining these two genres came about the new genre of Latin rap.
Second, the way that all Latin music has black roots is by knowing the background on the
formation of reggaeton. The utilization of the Jamaican work in the development of the Panama
Canal normally prompted the converging of Black Caribbean culture and Black Latinx culture in
Panama. Jamaicans carried the music of reggae to the nation and in this way it was blended in
with Spanish speaking music like salsa. The sounds of reggaeton rhythm is influenced by sounds
of the African diaspora. Some reggaeton artist them self even state that “The Latin music
industry borrows heavily from Afro-Latino cultural practices” reported by Rolling Stone
(Rouhani, 2020). Some artist in the industry knows that the roots of reggaeton are black and
wants it to be known as well.
In conclusion, a lot if not mostly all of Latin music has black roots. Two examples used
to demonstrate this ideology is the formation of reggaeton and Latin trap. Evidence shows that
both were derived from African American people. In a recent investigation done in 2019, studies
show that black Caribbean immigrants to Latin America created the genre of Reggaeton and
Latin trap. (Malone, 2019) Research has been conducted to prove the theory of Latin music
coming about from black people. Individuals need to respect the fact that Latin music has always
had black roots.
 Work Cited

Malone, G. (2019, June 18). Understanding the Complexities of Latin Trap. Retrieved from
https://belatina.com/is-there-a-future-for-latin-trap-music/

Rouhani, N. (2020, February 28). Inside Reggaeton's Unsung Black History. Retrieved from
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/reggaeton-black-history-ivy-queen-la-sista-tego-calderon-
952508/