Formed in the Caribbean melting pot and incubated in the barrios of New York, merengue is the driving dance music of the Dominican Republic. Its journey from a humble Dominican farm genre to pan-Latin dance club craze is an amazing, and often, bizarre story that spans 400 years and bridges Old and New worlds. Modern commercial merengue is one result, and it's hot stuff, complete with flashy horn arrangements, synthesizer clap tracks and a polyester-and-hair-gel image. Lurking behind chart-topping demi-gods of the early 90s such as Juan Luis Guerra is a great diversity or artists and subgenres: a thriving roots movement of traditional merengue, modern experiments fusing merengue with electronica and hip-hop, and even young innovators drawing on merengue's African past.

Although merengue's exact origins are unknown, we know that it was born from a fusion of the contradanse, a popular dance genre in Spain and France in the 17th century, and African drumming traditions. It was originally played on guitar, tambora (a double-headed drum) and guira (a scraper), though accordion soon replaced the guitar in what is now the Dominican Republic. Early merengue combined simple melodies from European country dances, but like most Latin genres, it is defined by its infectiously danceable rhythmic pattern, featuring strong beats on the scraper with syncopations on the tambora drum. Merengue songs were divided into several sections, but the high point was always the jaleo, an upbeat section in which the percussion picks up and accordion or saxophone repeats light-speed riffs.

Although merengue was more "European" than other syncretic Caribbean styles, the upper-classes firmly rejected it because of its lower-class roots, keeping it out of their dance salones. It might never have left the rural fiestas if it weren't for Rafael Trujillo, the Dominican Republic's totalitarian dictator from 1930 to 1961 who brought the type of merengue played in the central Cibao region to national prominence as a way of appealing to the masses and encouraging cultural nationalism. Merengue became more "sophisticated" with jazz influences and big-band orchestration pioneered by bandleaders such as Luis Alberti and Joseito Mateo. It was forced upon high-society and spread through government-owned radio stations, of course with lyrics praising the regime.

Although Trujillo brought merengue forward, he also held it back by controlling merengue bands so tightly. His death sparked a creative renaissance as merengue was free to conform to the tastes of the people. Following the format of wildly successful salsa from New York, merengue artists began to form small bands composed of piano, bass, horn section and percussion, and modern pop merengue was born. New artists like Johnny Ventura increased the tempos and wowed audiences with rock-n-roll-inspired antics. Successive artists added their own innovations, often inspired by American styles such as jazz, funk, and disco, but always keeping the lively merengue rhythm intact. Merengue was exported to New York via a large Dominican immigrant community, where it caught on with other Latinos. As salsa's popularity waned in the late 80s, merengue rose to become one of the most popular dance music in the Americas. Artists like Juan Luis Guerra, Wilfrido Vargas, and Millie Quezada cashed in as they sold countless albums and filled clubs around the world. Since the mid 90s, merengue has lost much popularity to new genres such as bachata and reggaeton, but young artists, such as Kinito Mendez, continue to break through with a fresh take on the merengue sound.

Sub-genres: Perico Ripiao or Merengue típico cibaeno

Perico ripiao, which means, mysteriously, "ripped parrot," is the traditional merengue sound from the Cibao region which has remained popular among Dominicans despite the omnipresence of commercial style merengue. In this old-school style, accordion is still king, speeding through melodies and riffs along with a saxophone player. The modern school of perico ripiao was pioneered by Tatico Henríquez. In fact, his compositions make up a large part of the típico repertoire today. Whereas the bassline had originally been played by the marimbula, a bass thumb-piano of West African origin, Tatico brought in the bass, modernizing the sound.

Unlike pop merengue, perico ripiao is a music based on improvisation and live performance. As the party heats up and a song goes on, new riffs are thrown into the mix, as saxophone and accordion converse through wildly careening solos. This pure energy of a típico concert is probably responsible for keeping the genre alive. Since Henríquez, the practice has been to continue accelerating the tempos, at times to what seems like the brink of spontaneous combustion. Típico musicians also play a slower variant called pambiche that arose during the American occupation of 1916-1924, invented to make fun how badly the American marines danced. Some contemporary perico ripiao musicians of note are El Ciego de Nagua, Fefita la Grande, and El Prodigio, the youngest and most popular as of now.

Mereng-house and Mereng-rap

The large Dominican community in New York naturally has affected music in the DR. Dominicans returning to their country have brought back NYC style hip-hop and house, which has been incorporated into merengue. Proyecto Uno, who started out as a conventional merengue band, created several local hits by mixing house beats with merengue. Fulanito, on the other hand, is a New York born Dominican rapper who began to add merengue to his music as a way of getting back to his roots. Young artists in an increasingly globalized world continue to enrich Dominican music with genre-crossing visions.

Contributed by: Jake Gold