The ritmo (rhythm) of the island has washed ashore, but this isn’t the typical tropical groove.
Reggaeton star Bad Bunny livened up his latest album “Un Verano Sin Ti” – and earned a No. 1 single – with the sly party anthem “Titi Me Preguntó.” Latin urban songstress Karol G energized her fourth album “Mañana Será Bonito” with the playful dance track “Ojos Ferrari.” And Spanish singer Rosalía enlisted Dominican rapper Tokischa to electrify her Coachella set in April with a performance of their sensual banger “Linda.”
These dancefloor smashes struck a chord thanks to their use of Dembow, an ultrafast dance genre from the Dominican Republic that’s taking over Latin pop with its hyperactive tempo and hedonistic themes.
Tokischa, one of Dembow’s brightest stars, fell in love with the musical style for its feel-good energy and unmistakable Dominican pedigree.
“I’m a Caribbean girl, and I’ve got to represent for my culture,” the Premios Juventud-nominated singer tells USA TODAY. “It’s just so much fun. It is happiness.”
Here’s everything you need to know about Dembow.
Dembow’s early rise constrained by musical competition, racial stigma
Dembow traces its roots back to the Jamaican genre dancehall and the release of the song “Dem Bow” by Shabba Ranks in 1990. The song’s distinct rhythm, which would also go on to inspire the Latin hip-hop genre reggaeton, helped lay the groundwork for the Dembow sound.
However, the genre initially struggled to find its footing, says Dembow historian Jennifer Mota. The popularity of other genres in the Dominican Republic such as merengue and salsa made for a “messy era of construction, both sonically and visibly. Because its process was competing against other genres at the time, the audience was not feeling it,” Mota says.
Verónica Davila Ellis, assistant professor of Spanish at James Madison University, says the growth of Dembow also came up against the racial stigma that some Latin urban genres face for their association with “racialized and working-class populations” in the Caribbean.
“Early Dembow is full of the realities of those communities, primarily a lot of talk about sex,” Ellis says. “That became a challenge for them to be marketed outside the barrios, to be listened (to) by other publics and to be even considered a Dominican genre.”
Dembow’s growth bolstered by Dominican immigration, internet reach
Despite its uneven genesis, Dembow has spread to waters outside the Caribbean thanks in part to the Dominican diaspora, a global patchwork of Dominican immigrant communities that have shared the genre outside their native country.
“They’re playing it out in these spaces and these establishments where other Latinos are attending, existing and learning about Dembow,” Mota says.
The growth of the internet and digital platforms has been pivotal in helping Dembow overcome a conservative media landscape in the Dominican Republic, says Angelina Tallaj-García, assistant professor of music at Fordham University.
“Traditional media is pretty elitist, so they would have never played the kind of raw vulgarity that is part of Dembow,” Tallaj-García says. “And something as rhythmic as Dembow – without a lot of harmony and a lot of melodies – in the Dominican Republic, in a kind of Eurocentric way, is not even considered music in a way.”
Tokischa, who began financing her music career through sex work, says the internet has been crucial in both promoting her work and generating income (the singer launched an OnlyFans page as an alternative source of income).
“Anything can be big today because of the internet. It has been a great tool for every artist, for everybody that has something to say,” Tokischa says. “I invested in my career with money from the internet.”
Dembow’s escapist dance sound, raw lyrics expand genre’s reach
Dembow has gained a festive reputation for its fiercely uptempo style, which Mota says stems from a yearning of escapism for disadvantaged communities of color living in the Dominican Republic.
“People don’t want to think about being sad or the struggles that they’re experiencing. They want to have fun. They want to dance,” says Mota, calling Dembow “survival music.” “It’s communities trying to forget the hardships that they’re actually facing and creating Black joy out of these hardships.”
It’s this combination of grittiness and joyful rhythms that has helped propel the genre to mainstream fame, says Tokischa.
“It transmits a vibrant vibe of dancing, of having fun. Even though the lyrics might come (across) a little too hood, but actually, it represents where it comes from,” Tokischa says. “People like us – people from the hood – are the people that have the wildest parties and the most fun.”
Ellis says Dembow’s frank lyricism, which tackles subjects ranging from explicit sexuality to socioeconomic strife, taps into a “global shared plight” that unifies listeners with similar societal experiences.
“I am an honest, real person, and I will always say how I feel, what I like, what I want. It’s just part of who I am,” Tokischa says. “If you’re real, people will connect with you.”
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The future of Dembow
After winning five Latin Grammys this past November – including a best urban fusion/performance win for “Titi Me Preguntó” – Bad Bunny dedicated his awards to the Dominican Republic and “the Dembow movement, the artists, producers, dancers and music video directors,” he wrote on Twitter.
The recent breakthrough success of Dembow in Latin pop signals a wider embrace of Dominican culture, says Mota, which has been stigmatized in the past due to classist norms.
“People have fallen in love with everything society has tried to make these people feel bad about,” Mota says. “People love the way they dance. They love the way they enjoy the music. They love what is being said in the music.”
Tokischa, who has played shows in countries such as Italy, Switzerland and Portugal on her current European tour, says it’s “a great experience” to see Dembow celebrated by different cultures.
“Sometimes, when I arrive to these places where they don’t even speak the same language as I do, I get really overwhelmed looking at all these people singing my lyrics,” Tokischa says. “It’s the magic of art.”
Mota says it’s this fan fervor, coupled with the genre’s freshness, that will keep Dembow from becoming a flash in the pan.
“(Dembow is) a very infant genre compared to other genres in Latin America, so this is just the beginning,” Mota says. “The audience loves it, and as long as there’s an audience, it’s always going to exist.”
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