music

does anyone know which groups/singers are most popular in Dominican??? any names or titles of songs would be great! thanking you in advance!

roxanne

The most popular groups are :
1- Los toros band
2- Toño Rosario
3- Fernando Villalona ( EL Mayimbe )
These are merengue Groups
And there is a "bachatero" i like, his name is Zacarias Ferreira he have a song named "si tu me dices ven " is in the gendre Bachata is like folk country music

Hi Roxanne:

If you are talking about merengue,there are so many.
I always asked the bartenders to write down the names of a song
I like. Here are a couple I heard down there and I bought the cd
when I got back home:

Album: Vuelve el Merengue, artist Ruby Perez
hit song : Tu Vas a Volar ( you are going to fly )
there are several other "good beats" on this album.

Album : D'Colores, artist Kinito Mendez
Hit song .....I love the whole album ( cd ).

I hope this has helped you.

Donald

Raulin Rodriguez is a popular Bachata singer.
a couple songs are: "Arrancame La Vida," or "Medicina de Amor"

FYI- A good Dominican friend explained to me that Bachata wasn't alway considered a respectable genre of music. You could only find it in "after hour" clubs or underground parties. Due to the elicit and undesired lyrics. He also mentioned that Bachata's roots are from Africa. My friend used Rap music as a comparision. For example, when Rap music first hit mainstream it was considered negative and forbidden, but now it's world renowned. Rap music is also stemmed from Africa. In effect, Batchata has become more mainstream and the lyrical content has evolved and is now the rave and quite acceptable.

I consider Bachata music to be very romantic in terms of lyrics. Some of the songs are just beautifully written.

Anyway, I beg to differ somewhat. Though Dominican music in general and almost all other Latin music genres, have roots in African musical traditions, the Bachata has a different sound from Merengue. The Bachata is essentially a guitar-based music. I would not compare it to Rap music at all, but if anything, to the traditionally depressing Blues music of the south of the US. Bachata songs were nothing more than sad boleros from el campo and it wasn't until the country folks started to move to SD in search of work that the word "bachata" emerged. The snobby upper class in SD were the ones that actually coined the word as a sign of their dislike of the music, since bachata means raw, uneducated, uncultured, you get the picture. The Bachatas stuck around thanks to Radio Guarachita and today are more popular than ever.

Regards,
Natasha