Merenhouse

Meren(gue)house/Merenrap is a hip hop music style formed by blending Dominican merengue music with rap, dancehall reggae and hip hop. The group Proyecto Uno pioneered the genre. Merenhouse usually combines a rap style of singing (talk-singing) with actual singing. It has instruments that are typically in merengue music, such as saxophones, trumpets, accordion, bass, guitar, güira, tambora (drum). However, they can be combined with electronic sounds or even electronic sounds sampled from the actual instruments (musch like house music). Sampling music means to take a sample or portion of a sound recording to reuse it in a song. Merenhouse is very upbeat for dancing, like house music. It is hard to identify merenhouse based on its time signature and rhythm alone. Some merenhouse music is in a fast 2/4 beat and has typical merengue style rhythms. Some also is in a slower 4/4 beat, identifying more with the hip hop style. Merenhouse can be characterized mostly by the instruments/electronics used and the combination of vocal styles.

Merenhouse originated during the 1990s in New York City by Dominican Americans. They wanted to preserve their Dominican roots as well as adapt to their new environment. Dominican merengue music can be considered an expression of Dominican transnationalism, as there was a significant shift in migration of Dominicans to New York City in the twentieth century. It is not surprising that merenhouse, a musical hybrid, was popular to a generation of bicultural youth growing up in New York City with Dominican roots that combined both aspects of their culture. Merenhouse is a symbol of national identity to Dominican Americans. The early 1990s saw a huge increase in immigration to the US from the Dominican Republic due largely to the greatly deteriorating economic situation of the Dominican Republic in the 1980s and early 1990s. New York City saw the bulk of this initial Dominican population growth, and once those first Dominican immigrates got settled in, New York City became the hub of Dominican culture in the US. “By 1990, an estimated 900,000 Dominicans - 12 percent of the country’s population - lived in New York City alone.” Dominicans also “tend to be more concentrated residing exclusively in barrios or ghettos like Washington Heights-Inwood, home to 59% of Dominicans registered by the INS.” This potent concentration of Dominicans all in one place allowed them to bring in their own culture while they assimilated into the melting pot of cultures found in New York City. Merengue is one example of the many pieces of Dominican culture brought during this period of immigration, which was a key element to the creation of Merenhouse.

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