Genre's Origins
When the troubadour Sindo Garay (pictured right) brought the Cuban bolero to the Dominican Republic in the 1890s, Dominicans localized it and developed it into what would later become bachata. (Manuel p. 136) (Moore p. 133)
Accordion groups had already taken the Dominican Republic by storm in the 1880s, so informal groups of guitars (the forerunners of bachata) "continued as a somewhat marginalized folk tradition." (Manuel p. 136)
Rural Traditions
Informal guitar groups found their home in the rural areas of the Dominican Republic, especially near the Haitian border. (Hutchinson p. 130)
By the 1950s, these groups would typically feature a solo male singer accompanied by a couple of guitars with percussion from maracas, bongos, or marimbas. (Manuel p. 136)
The lyrics were often romantic, "used by suitors to serenade their ladies, to accompany dancing at rural parties, and to soothe the sentiments of jilted lovers in neighborhood taverns." (Manuel p. 136)
Migration to the Capitol
When Joaquín Balaguer (pictured right) assumed presidency of the Dominican Republic in the early 1960s, he allowed foreign companies to buy up land in the Dominican countryside. Hundreds of thousands of Dominican farmers lost their land during this time. (Manuel p. 136)
Many of these displaced farmers migrated to Santo Domingo in search of education and employment opportunities. (Moore p. 133)
In Santo Domingo, the migrants endured poor living conditions in slums "with mud alleys, open sewers, rat-infested garbage heaps, and flimsy shacks clinging precariously to the slopes of ravines." (Manuel p. 136)
The Birth of Bachata
These displaced farmers brought their guitar music with them to Santo Domingo in the 1960s, where it served as "a coping mechanism of sorts" for the young men "in desperate economic conditions." (Moore p. 135)
These songs were often laments, called canciones de amargue (songs of bitterness) with lyrics expressing "despair, suffering, indignation, and longing." Common themes were excess drinking, sexual conquests, unfaithful women, and "harsh realities of life in urban ghettos." (Moore p. 135)
At this time, the word bachata, which had "referred broadly to rowdy working-class parties and the music associated with them," came to define the specific genre we know today. (Moore p. 133)
Bachata's Early Reputation
When it emerged, bachata was considered the music of one class alone: the urban poor. (Moore p. 134)
To middle- and upper-class Dominicans, bachata was dismissed as "crude, vulgar, and ... a symbol of cultural 'backwardness.'" (Moore p. 135)
Bachata was only played in marginalized parts of Santo Domingo, including brothels and very poor communities. (Hutchinson p. 131)
Bachata v.s. Merengue
Merengue (pictured left), a genre of music which features the accordion, tambora, and güira with trumpets, saxophones, bass, and guitar, was a popular and respected genre of music in the Dominican Republic, both then and now.
Although the urban poor may have enjoyed merengue too, they would have had little opportunity to hear it performed since it was primarily presented at clubs with strict dress codes. (Manuel p. 136)
Bachata's "relationship to merengue took on aspect of a symbolic class war, pitting the homemade guitar against the noisy saxophone, and the humble colmado (mom-and-pop stores with a few folding chairs on the sidewalk for drinking and hanging out) against the elite club." (Manuel p. 137)
Bachata In Development
Bachata was originally distributed on cheaply produced cassettes, but in the following decades, it began to be recorded in better studios.
In these years, innovators developed bachata into the form we recognize today.
In the 1980s, Blas Durán (pictured right) pioneered the use of electric guitars to play the standard arpeggiated chords. (Moore pp. 134-135)
Anthony Santos popularized the flat-picked guitar over the "funky" medium-tempo percussion beat. (Manuel p. 138)
Initial Shifts
In the 1990s, social perceptions of bachata slowly began to shift towards a more positive perspective.
Juan Luis Guerra, a singer esteemed by every class of Dominican society, afforded bachata a certain credibility when he titled his 1991 album "Bachata rosa" (pictured left). (Manuel p. 137)
Even though the ballads on Guerra's album were not exactly bachata in style, his association with the name "bachata" offered the genre a newfound sense of respectability. (Manuel p. 137)
During this time, popular bachateros (bachata musicians) ditched the angry and bitter tone of bachata's origins, opting for gentler and more romantic themes. (Manuel pp. 137-138)
New York Renaissance
At the turn of the millennium, the expansion of bachata's outreach and popularity was shocking.
Young American-born Dominicans in New York who didn't know nor care about the bachata's low status in the Dominican Republic admired the genre. (Manuel p. 138)
The young Bronx-based boy band Aventura made bachata a worldwide phenomenon with their 2002 single "Obsesión (pictured right)," which was #1 in many European countries, including in Italy for 16 weeks. (Manuel 138).
Aventura gave bachata a polished pop appeal, mixing Dominican Spanish and English lyrics, as well as exploring fusions with reggaeton and R&B. (Manuel p. 138)
Worldwide Appeal
Today, bachata music is a part of daily life throughout Latin America, even in the Dominican Republic where it was once rejected.
Due to this broad international appeal, bachata lyrics have more or less conformed to those of any other popular music genre. (Moore p. 135)
Romeo Santos (formerly of Aventura) and Prince Royce, who is also from the Bronx, are currently two of the biggest modern bachata artists.
"Taking bachata far away from its once angry or macho early lyrics, Santos and Royce sing songs of vulnerability, tenderness, and longing in an androgynous (if not downright effeminate) style, endearing them as heartthrobs to a generation of women." (Manuel p. 138)
Pictured above: Prince Royce, Natti Natasha, Romeo Santos
Bachata Dancing
Bachata music is rarely played to be just listened to, but rather to accompany dancing.
The traditional bachata is danced in pairs. Couples move linearly from side to side or in a box pattern as they hold hands or maintain a ballroom position. They take three steps on alternating feet and then tap their foot on the fourth beat. The dance is easy and the goal is to enjoy the music and socialize. (Hutchinson p. 128)
Once bachata music had emerged as an international commercial success, Western ballroom instructors began teaching bachata as a Latin dance, often adding more sensual moves and complicated steps to the traditional form. (Hutchinson p. 136)
These changes "have turned bachata dance into a marketable product, with the side effect that it has transformed it from a family-friendly social dance Dominicans could do (and still do) with their grandparents into a hyper-sexualized display of an imaginary, exotic Latinness." (Hutchinson p. 137)
A Narrated History
Transcript
Bachata is a music genre that originates from the Dominican Republic with Caribbean influences from Cuba, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. It features a lead singer, guitars, bass, and percussion from bongos and güira.
Its roots go back to the 1890s, when Cuban bolero music reached the island and blended with local rural guitar traditions. By the 1950s, small guitar groups were common in the countryside, especially near the Haitian border; they played romantic songs at friendly gatherings.
In the 1960s, land reforms pushed many rural Dominicans into the capital, Santo Domingo. They brought their music with them, and it became a voice for the urban poor. This evolving genre was known as bachata.
The lyrics often speak of heartbreak, poverty, and social struggles. Because of its associations with poor neighborhoods and its history, the upper class saw bachata as vulgar, while merengue remained the more socially accepted genre.
In the 1980s and 90s, artists like Blas Durán and Anthony Santos modernized bachata with electric instruments. Juan Luis Guerra’s Bachata Rosa helped bring it into the mainstream.
By the 2000s, artists like Aventura, Romeo Santos, and Prince Royce had taken bachata global. Today, it’s recognized and loved around the world.
Works Cited
Manuel, Peter. Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae. Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 2016.
Moore, Robin. Music in the Hispanic Caribbean: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York, Oxford University Press, 2010.
Hutchinson, Sydney. Focus: Music of the Caribbean. New York, Routledge, 2019.
Photo Credits
Social Perceptions of Bachata: A History: World Music Central.
What is Bachata?: Wikipedia
Map of the Dominican Republic: Mappr.co
Genre's Origin's: Wikipedia
Rural Traditions: Hip Postcard
Migration to the Capitol: Wikipedia
The Birth of Bachata: Discovering Journalism - Word Press
Bachata's Early Reputation: Dominican Today
Bachata vs. Merengue: iASO Records
Bachata in Development: Spotify
Initial Shifts: Spotify
New York Renaissance: Spotify
Worldwide Appeal: SoundCloud
Bachata Dancing: Ballroom Dance Classes at Louisville
Credits:
Diego Slingerland, Madison Norman, and Madison Winstead