Bachatón (also known as bachateo) is a

fusion genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. Genre is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometim ...

of reggaeton from

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

as well as bachata from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. Bachaton combines

bachata Bachata may refer to: * Bachata (music), a musical genre which originated in the Dominican Republic ** Traditional bachata, a subgenre of bachata music ** Bachata (dance), a dance form * Bachatón, a hybrid bachata/reggaeton music style * "Bach ...

melodies and

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

style beats, lyrics, rapping, and

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

ing. The word "bachatón" is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of "bachata" and "reggaeton". "Bachatón" was coined and widely accepted in 2005. It is a subgenre of

and

Background

Bachatón is a mix of bachata and reggaetón. The histories of the two genres are described below.

Bachata

Bachata Bachata may refer to: * Bachata (music), a musical genre which originated in the Dominican Republic ** Traditional bachata, a subgenre of bachata music ** Bachata (dance), a dance form * Bachatón, a hybrid bachata/reggaeton music style * "Bach ...

is a genre of

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

that originated in the

in the early parts of the 20th century and spread to other parts of Latin America and Mediterranean Europe. It became popular in the countryside and the rural neighborhoods of the

. Its subjects are often romantic; especially prevalent are tales of heartbreak and sadness. In fact, the original term used to name the genre was amargue ("bitterness" or "bitter music"), until the rather ambiguous (and mood-neutral) term ''bachata'' became popular. The form of

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, also developed with the music.Pacini Hernandez, Deborah
"Brief history of Bachata"
, ''

Bachata, A social history of a Dominican popular music ''Bachata: A Social History of a Dominican Popular Music'' is a 1995 non-fiction book by Deborah Pacini Hernández, published by Temple University Press. Background The author wanted to write a book about merengue music, but changed her focus to b ...

'', 1995, Temple University Press. Retrieved on 2008-12-04 The earliest bachata was originally developed in the Dominican Republic around the early part of the 20th century, with mixed Cuban boleros which originated from Son with African elements, and Puerto Rican 18th century jibaro music combined with traditional Latin/Caribbean rhythms. During much of its history, bachata music was denigrated by Latino/Caribbean society and associated with rural backwardness and delinquency. The typical bachata group consists of five instruments: lead

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, rhythm guitar,

electric bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

bongos Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...

and

güira The güira () is a percussion instrument from the Dominican Republic used in merengue, bachata, and to a lesser extent, other genres such as cumbia. It is made of a metal sheet (commonly steel) and played with a stiff brush, thus being similar ...

. The rhythm guitar is also known as a ''segunda'' and serves the purpose of adding

syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...

to the music. Bachata groups mainly play a simple style of

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...

(lead guitar instrumentation using arpeggiated repetitive chords is a distinctive characteristic of bachata), but when they change to merengue based bachata, the

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

ist will switch from bongo to a tambora drum. In the 1960s and 1970s,

maracas A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...

were used instead of güira. The change in the 1980s from maracas to the more versatile güira was made as bachata was becoming more dance oriented.

Reggaetón

Reggaetón Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular and electronic music that originated in Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puerto Rican musicians. It has evolved fr ...

is an urban form of music which has its roots in Latin and Caribbean music.
. Raquel Z. Rivera. 2009. ''Reggaeton''. "Part I. Mapping Reggaeton". From Música Negra to Reggaeton Latino: Wayne Marshall. "Part II. The Panamanian Connection". Placing Panama in the Reggaeton Narrative: Editor's Notes / Wayne Marshall. Duke University Press, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Its sound derives from the

Reggae en Español In Panama, dancehall reggae sung in Spanish language by artists of Latin American origin is known as ''Reggae en Español'' (in English, Spanish reggae). It originated in the late 1980s in Panama. ''Reggae en Español'' goes by several names; ...

from

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. The genre was invented, shaped and made known in

where it got its name;AskMen.com – "5 Things You Didn't Know About Reggaeton"
/ref> most of its current artists are also from Puerto Rico. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European, Asian and African audiences. Reggaeton blends

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n musical influences of

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

, with those of

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, such as salsa, bomba, Latin hip hop, and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

. Vocals include

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

and

singing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

, typically in Spanish. Lyrics tend to be derived from

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

rather than from dancehall. Like hip hop, reggaeton has caused some controversy, albeit less, due to alleged exploitation of women.BBC News – "Puerto Rico shakes to a new beat"
/ref> While it takes influences from hip hop and Jamaican dancehall, reggaeton is not precisely the

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latin American version of either of these genres; reggaeton has its own specific beat and rhythm,Pistas de Reggaeton Famosas / Official Reggaeton Beats
/ref> whereas Latin hip hop is simply hip hop recorded by artists of Latino descent. The specific "

riddim In Jamaican dancehall music, a riddim is the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the term consist of the ''riddim'' plus the ''voicing'' (vocal part) sung by the deeja ...

" that characterizes reggaeton is referred to as "Dem Bow". The name is taken from the dancehall song by Shabba Ranks that first popularized the beat in the early 1990s which appears on his album '' Just Reality''.

History

2000–2003: The arrival of Dominican styles of music

The appearance of Dominican styles of music such as bachata and merengue in reggaetón coincided with the arrival in

of the Dominican-born production team of

Luny Tunes Luny Tunes is an American reggaeton production duo consisting of Francisco Saldaña (Luny) and Víctor Cabrera (Tunes) who have been known for creating unique musical rhythms for some of the most popular reggaeton artists since the early 2000s ...

—although they are not solely credited for this development,
Raquel Z. Rivera, Wayne Marshall and Deborah Pacini Hernandez. "Reggaeton"

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 ...

. 2009. pg. 143- they were indeed heavily influenced by the already popular reggaeton genre to begin their own production company. In 2000, they received an opportunity to work in the reggaeton studio of

DJ Nelson Nelson Díaz Martinez (born on April 7, 1972, in San Juan, Puerto Rico), known professionally as DJ Nelson is a Puerto Rican DJ and record producer who played a significant role in the development and popularization of reggaeton. He first made a n ...

. They began to produce a string of successful releases for reggaeton artists including

Ivy Queen Martha Ivelisse Pesante Rodríguez (born March 4, 1972), known professionally as Ivy Queen, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer and actress. She is considered one of the pioneers of the reggaeton genre, commonly referred to as the Queen of Reggae ...

, Tego Calderón and

Daddy Yankee Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (; born February 3, 1976), known professionally as Daddy Yankee (), is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor who rose to worldwide prominence in 2004 with the song "Gasolina". Dubbed the "Honorific ...

. "Pa' Que Retozen", one of the first songs to combine bachata and reggaeton appeared on Tego Calderón's highly acclaimed '' El Abayarde'' (2002). It features the unmistakable guitar sounds of Dominican bachata—although, it was not produced by Luny Tunes but by DJ Joe. Luny Tunes however, on their debut studio album, '' Mas Flow'' (2003) included a hit by Calderón, "Métele Sazón". It exhibited bachata's signature guitar arpeggios as well as merengue's characteristic piano riffs.

2004–Present: "Bachatón"

After the success of these songs, other artists began to incorporate bachata with reggaeton. Artists such as Ivy Queen began releasing singles that featured bachata's signature guitar sound and slower romantic rhythm as well as bachata's exaggerate emotional singing style. This is reflected in the hits " Te He Querido, Te He Llorado" and "La Mala". Daddy Yankee's " Lo Que Paso, Paso" and

Don Omar William Omar Landrón Rivera (born February 10, 1979), known professionally as Don Omar, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is also known as the " King of Reggaeton" by music critics and fans alike. The ...

's " Dile" also reflect this. A further use of bachata occurred in 2005 when producers began remixing existing reggaeton with bachata's characteristic guitar sounds marketing it as ''bachatón'' defining it as "bachata, Puerto Rican style".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachaton 2005 neologisms Bachata Reggaeton Music of Latin America Music of the Dominican Republic Urbano music genres