Dominican Blues

The Second thing that comes to mind when I think of Dominicans, is Bachata. Bachata IS Dominican Republic. For those who don't know, Bachata is a music genre. Bachata is considered Dominican "Blues" and a Dominican's heart and soul. Bachata's lyrics consist of heartbreak and sadness. Dominicans refer to bachata as amargue which means bitterness or bitter music. Hispanics are familiar with this music because it spread to other Latino countries. Bachata was born in Dominican Republic in the early 20th centuries and then spread to other places such as Cuba, Puerto Rico and even the U.S. Most Hispanics don't know the roots of Bachata. It is so important to understand the history to know why Bachata is my heart and soul and why I take so much pride in it.

Bachata was looked down on when it first came around. Society looked at Bachata as the "poor's music", slave music, underworld music, backyard music. Bachata was for people of low-class. People were ashamed to listen to this music and wouldn't dare listen to it in public. Dominican's would listen to Bachata at home,hidden, as to not get caught. Bachateros (those who sang bachata ) were hated. The high class made fun of them and called them sing-your-life-away's, which, in their eyes, was a person with no future. They called them "come sopa" which translates into soup eater because that was all they could afford to eat. Bachateros played bachata with a guitar, considered the poor man's instrument. Maybe because it originated in the low class it was hated but not for long.

La Guarachita was the first radio station to play bachata in Dominican Republic. Little groups of Bachateros would go to the sleaziest bars to play there music and they basically started from the bottom but made their way up in the early 90's. Bachata came to be a popular style of music. Anthony Santos, Elvis Martinez and Luis Vargas all Dominican Bachateros made hits to overcome the negative talk about Bachata.

Bachata has come a long way and is now loved by people all over the world. Romeo Santos and Prince Royce are popular bachateros today. Bachata has become so popular, even Usher featured in the song Promise by Romeo Santos last year. It is much more than just music, it is a part of history in the Dominican Culture that we take pride in. Feel free to listen to an ex- bachata group, Aventura singing Infieles ( Unfaithful ) (below)