Afro is a genre of
Cuban popular music with African themes which gained prominence during the
afrocubanismo
Afrocubanismo was an artistic and social movement in black-themed Cuban culture with origins in the 1920s, as in works by the cultural anthropologist Fernando Ortiz. The Afrocubanismo movement focused on establishing the legitimacy of black ident ...
movement in the early 20th century.
It originated in the late 19th century Cuban
blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person.
In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...
theatre, where some elements from Afro-Cuban music traditions such as
Santería
Santería (), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between the tradit ...
and
Palo
Palo may refer to:
Places
* Palo, Argentina, a village in Argentina
* Palo, Estonia, village in Meremäe Parish, Võru County, Estonia
* Palo, Huesca, municipality in the province of Huesca, Spain
* Palo, Iowa, United States, a town located wit ...
were incorporated into a secular context.
As a result, black themes were occasionally portrayed in a stereotypical and derogatory manner.
Nonetheless, many afros accurately depicted the working-class life of black communities in Cuba.
Afros are sung in a creolized form of Spanish, often similar to
bozal. In the 1940s and 1950s, the genre reached its peak of popularity often mixing with
son cubano
Son cubano is a genre of music and dance that originated in the highlands of eastern Cuba during the late 19th century. It is a syncretic genre that blends elements of Spanish and African origin. Among its fundamental Hispanic components are th ...
giving rise to the hybrid style known as afro-son (or son-afro).
Compositions not based on the son structure were often labelled as ''canción afro'' (afro-song) or ''canción de cuna afro'' (afro-
lullaby
A lullaby (), or cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies they are used to pass down cultural knowled ...
); the latter became a popular form, especially due to the popularity of Ernesto Grenet's "Drume negrita". Among the most notable singers of afro were
Rita Montaner
Rita Aurelia Fulcida Montaner y Facenda (20 August 1900 – 17 April 1958), known as Rita Montaner, was a Cuban singer, pianist and actress. In Cuban parlance, she was a '' vedette'' (a star), and was well known in Mexico City, Paris, Miami and ...
,
Bola de Nieve
Bola de Nieve (literally ''Snowball'') (11 September 1911 – 2 October 1971), born Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández, was a Cuban singer-pianist and songwriter. His name originates from his round, black face.
Villa Fernández was born in Guanaba ...
,
Desi Arnaz
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom ''I Lov ...
and
Merceditas Valdés.
Influence
According to George Torres, "the infectious rhythm of the Afro was used by American artists" such as
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
and
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...
(in his song "Havana Moon).
According to
Ned Sublette
Ned Sublette (born 1951 in Lubbock, Texas) is an American composer, musician, record producer, musicologist, historian, and author. Sublette studied Spanish Classical Guitar with Hector Garcia at the University of New Mexico and with Emilio Puj ...
, the genre was particularly innovative, asserting that "“Babalú” was a forerunner of the kind of record
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
would make fifteen years later".
Notable examples
The following afro compositions are often cited as the most representative of the genre.
*"
Babalú
"Babalú" is a Cuban popular afro song written by Margarita Lecuona, the cousin of composers Ernestina and Ernesto Lecuona. The song title is a reference to the Santería deity Babalú Ayé.
Lyrics
In the song's lyrics, originally written in S ...
" (
Margarita Lecuona
Margarita Lecuona (1910–1981) was a Cuban singer and composer who is remembered for composing Afro songs such as "Babalú" and "Tabú".
Biography
Born in Havana on 18 April 1910, Lecuona was the daughter of Eugenio Lecuona, the Cuban consul in ...
)
*"Tabú" (Margarita Lecuona)
*"
Bruca maniguá
"Bruca maniguá" is an afro-son composed by Arsenio Rodríguez in 1937. It was first recorded by Orquesta Casino de la Playa featuring Miguelito Valdés on vocals in June 1937. Ever since it has become a Cuban son standard, with famous versions by ...
" (
Arsenio Rodríguez
Arsenio Rodríguez (born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull; 31 August 1911 – 30 December 1970)Giro, Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana, v. 4 p. 45 et seq. was a Cuban musician, composer and bandleader ...
)
*"
Drume negrita
Drume ( cyrl, Друме; sq, Drume) is a village in the Municipalities of Montenegro, municipality of Tuzi Municipality, Tuzi, Montenegro. It is located close to the Albanian border.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census, its population was ...
" (
Ernesto Grenet Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to:
* ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975
** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely ba ...
)
*"Drumi mobila" (
Bola de Nieve
Bola de Nieve (literally ''Snowball'') (11 September 1911 – 2 October 1971), born Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández, was a Cuban singer-pianist and songwriter. His name originates from his round, black face.
Villa Fernández was born in Guanaba ...
)
*"Ogguere" (
Gilberto Valdés Gilberto S. Valdés (21 May 1905, in Jovellanos, Matanzas – 12 May 1972, in New York City) was a Cuban music director and composer who specialised in the afro genre of Cuban popular music. Valdés was one of the first popular bandleaders to introd ...
)
*"Lacho" (
Facundo Rivero
''Facundo: Civilization and Barbarism'' (original Spanish title: ''Facundo: Civilización y Barbarie'') is a book written in 1845 by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, a writer and journalist who became the second president of Argentina. It is a corner ...
)
*"La culebra" (
Obdulio Morales Obdulio Morales Ríos (April 7, 1910 – January 9, 1981) was a Cuban pianist, conductor, composer and ethnomusicologist, an important figure in the late afrocubanismo movement. He championed Afro-Cuban music traditions and sponsored artists such as ...
)
*"Mata siguaraya" (
Tío Tom
Gonzalo Ascencio Hernández Kessel (5 April 1919 – 10 February 1991), known as (Uncle Tom), was an Afro-Cuban musician who specialized in the rumba and its variant, the guaguancó. Asencio was the author of hundreds of pieces that for decade ...
)
*"Rinkinkalla" (Juan Bruno Tarraza)
See also
*
Afro-Cuban music Music of African heritage in Cuba derives from the musical traditions of the many ethnic groups from different parts of West Africa that were brought to Cuba as slaves between the 16th and 19th centuries. Members of some of these groups formed thei ...
References
{{reflist, 2
Cuban styles of music