1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,320 Speaker 1: Hey, Latino USA listener, Today we bring you an episode 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: from the new season of La Brega, a podcast about 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: the Puerto Rican experience through music. The show is a 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:15,560 Speaker 1: collaboration between our very own Futuro Studios and WNYC Studios. 5 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna tell you too much other than this 6 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: story's got salsa, merengue, turf wars, racial tensions, and it's 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: also gonna want to make you dance. I'm gonna let 8 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: Alana Casanova Burgess take it from here. 9 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 2: I'm here with Sequel Rodriguez Andino, our team's human encyclopedia, 10 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 2: Ogi Beregalero, radio professional history detective for stories about Puerto 11 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 2: Rico and what else. 12 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 3: Well, I'm a pop culture like Officionalo and I love music, 13 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 3: so you know, just have soon Rine de dela de Venci. 14 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 3: You know we're singing salsa stuff and other stuff all 15 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 3: the time. Yeah, that's why. 16 00:00:59,160 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 4: I think. 17 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 3: That's why when you said that we're gonna go music 18 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 3: in La I'm like, okay, I'm ready. 19 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 4: I'm ready. 20 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,320 Speaker 2: And for nearly two decades, Esa was also the co 21 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 2: host of a radio show called Frequencies Alternate Frequencies. It 22 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 2: played on and had this cult following a ton of 23 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 2: Puerto Rican musicians got their start there, particularly in the 24 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 2: independent music scene. So when we were getting going on 25 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 2: this season of La Rega, the team was pretty surprised 26 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 2: that you wanted to dig into one of the biggest, 27 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 2: most commercial pop hits in Puerto Rican history. 28 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 5: Love Save Giro. 29 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 2: You know, the one moment for Latinos to hit the 30 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 2: dance floor. 31 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 6: This was like the moment that we got was this 32 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 6: one medaninga. 33 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 2: It's just like, whether you like it or not, this 34 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 2: is all you. 35 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 4: Get, body Latino. Can you play something mente and esposito? 36 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 2: I feel like it just becomes like the go to 37 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 2: when it really doesn't need to be. 38 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: But then you know, if I'm at a function among family, it's. 39 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 5: The classic gets all the tias moving, make. 40 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 7: Wow. 41 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 2: It's the medaninga that has been heard around the world. 42 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 2: Elviscerispos nineteen ninety eight, Mega hit sam For so many 43 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 2: years now, the song has persisted on the radio at clubs. 44 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,799 Speaker 2: It's the one Spanish song dropped in at an English 45 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 2: speaking wedding, or a high school dance or a bar 46 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,919 Speaker 2: mitzvah even probably it's been twenty five years and it's 47 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 2: still everywhere. The song is iconic or infamous, depending on 48 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 2: your tastes, but we don't really think of it as 49 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 2: iconically Puerto Rican, right, And that's in part because it's 50 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 2: a meringe, a rhythm more associated with the Dominican Republic. 51 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 3: Yeah right, it's like this quintessential Dominican genre and this 52 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,799 Speaker 3: song is in the voice of a Puerto Rican man. 53 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 4: How did that happen? Right? 54 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 2: Yeah? And so say, why are we talking about swament 55 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 2: did today? 56 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 3: Well, the thing is when I think of Swaamente, I 57 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 3: think about double bubble. 58 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 4: Do you remember double bubble, the showing gum? 59 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 2: Oh my god? Yes, you'd bite into it and it 60 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 2: would explode, right, like with Guy Sugar. 61 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 4: That's the one. 62 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 3: That's the one guy and sweety, super fun and pack 63 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,839 Speaker 3: with enough sugar to give you diabetes like Saamente. 64 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 4: Actually, okay, but. 65 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 3: It's not just the empty calories, right. What I'm trying 66 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 3: to convey with this analog is that there's also a 67 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 3: surprise and unexpected story hidden in Soemente. 68 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 2: All right, I'm intrigued, double intrigued, let's hear it. 69 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 3: Okay, may look, the thing about Soamente is that it 70 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,280 Speaker 3: didn't just come out of nowhere right. It's the result 71 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 3: of a musical battle that went on for years on 72 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 3: stages and across swety dance floors, a war between salsa 73 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 3: and merenge, A war that tells us a lot about 74 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 3: our relationship with our sister island, the Dominican Republic. 75 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 4: I like to call it the Merenge War. 76 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 2: For Fubudo Studios and w n YC Studios, I'm Alana 77 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 2: Casanova Burgess and this is La Brega in this episode 78 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 2: track three Samente and the musical war that hit another war, 79 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,799 Speaker 2: so is Agel. Where do you want to begin? 80 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:07,479 Speaker 3: Well, of all the places we could begin, I want 81 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 3: to begin in the house where. 82 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 2: I grew up, I've been there. Your parents plays great vibes. 83 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 4: You know. 84 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 3: I grew up in this very musical household where there 85 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 3: were two kinds of love for music. My dad, he 86 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 3: thinks he's a poet, right. He loves to listen to music. 87 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 3: He sits down, he takes like this black coffee and 88 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 3: starts analyzing the lyrics of a song. But my mother, 89 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 3: my mother feels the music right. She gets swept up 90 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 3: in the rhythm. She loves to dance. She can't hold. 91 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 4: Back like usta biler. 92 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 8: To. 93 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 3: That is my mother, Marisola di Rodriuez. She's been dancing 94 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 3: since her teens. That's when she learned to dance everything. 95 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: Dango please. 96 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:56,679 Speaker 3: And seventeen year old Marisol she was in the best 97 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 3: place to go out to dance because if you were 98 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 3: in nineteen seventy sp Ego, there was live music everywhere. 99 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 9: They were danced that we're done every week Friday and 100 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 9: Saturday and Sunday. 101 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 3: That's a Rishi Viera, owner of Biera Riscos in Levitown. 102 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 4: He's been working in the music business for years. 103 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:16,839 Speaker 9: Because an orchestra had to play four sets of forty 104 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 9: five minutes, they danced until two three in the morning, and. 105 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 4: It was salsa that ruled the night, all night, every night. 106 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:27,720 Speaker 3: So if you could hold a bit on the congas, 107 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 3: play a little trombone, or do a two step well 108 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 3: singing lokoto, then you too could have a place in 109 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 3: a South orchestra booking gigs and breaking it in all 110 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 3: week long. And really there were so many gigs. There 111 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 3: was a festival every day celebrating everything you could think of. 112 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:46,360 Speaker 4: Here's trumpeter Egga. 113 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 3: Nevadis fertyvaland then mango and fertivalen Makrame, the Mango Festival, 114 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 3: the Makarame Festival, a festival for oranges. 115 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 4: Algo every day of the. 116 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 3: Week, a festival and a dance floor, and that's where 117 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 3: my mother and all the other salovers were twirling around 118 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 3: all nine long. With so much opportunity for musicians, word 119 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 3: spread through the Caribbean like wildfire. If you want to 120 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 3: get and make money, Puerto Rico is the place to be. 121 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 3: And then in the mid seventies something happened that would 122 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 3: change the thing forever. Enter the merengue orchestras groups like 123 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 3: with Filo Vargas or Jonniventura. They were playing songs full 124 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 3: of joy and freedom. Like to some merengue seemed to 125 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 3: come like out of nowhere to Puerto Rico, but in 126 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 3: reality it was really always there because Puerto Rico and 127 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 3: the Dominican Republic are literally neighbors. Many no, there's been 128 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 3: a major Dominican immigrant community in Puerto Rico for decades now, 129 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 3: but in reality it goes way back. The way put 130 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 3: it to me, you got on a flight Cola and 131 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 3: you got a Coca Cola with. 132 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 8: Some icemobi in San To Domino anyway, and the flight 133 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 8: is so sure that you've still got eyes in the 134 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 8: glass when the plane starts its descent in Santo Domingo, 135 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 8: and that geographical closeness behind us. 136 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 3: In other ways too, we've had a cultural back and 137 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:36,679 Speaker 3: forth for centuries. 138 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 10: Now. 139 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 3: That's why all the salsabans in Puerto Rico always has 140 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 3: some kind of merenguito in the repertoire. But the groups 141 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 3: that started arriving in San Juan in the nineteen seventies 142 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 3: were through merengue orchestras. They were coming directly from the 143 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:59,439 Speaker 3: Dominican Republic. The tambora going hard, sparks flying off the guida, 144 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 3: some wild and sparkling trumpets on top. And this merenge 145 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 3: was something else. It was faster, harder hitting, and also 146 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 3: super joyful, a jolt of pure life and enthusiasm, music 147 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 3: that compelled you to leave all your trolls behind. 148 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:28,199 Speaker 4: And just let it go. 149 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 3: And maybe most importantly, it was way easier to dance to. 150 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 9: Merenge is a thing, don't thing, don't you know? 151 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 11: We do? 152 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:46,119 Speaker 5: Buy four. 153 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:53,720 Speaker 9: Salsa has a pattern. If you don't know how to dance, 154 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 9: your fault. 155 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 2: This is true sansa's tricky. It takes a lot of 156 00:09:57,440 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 2: practice exactly. 157 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:02,200 Speaker 3: And in that sense we could say that merengue was 158 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:05,640 Speaker 3: the great equalizer of the Puerto Rican dance floors. 159 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 9: With the merengue music, you throw one hip to one 160 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 9: side and the other to the other side and can dance. 161 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:23,559 Speaker 3: For example, my dad, Miguel Angel, had two left feet 162 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:24,679 Speaker 3: a while. 163 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:27,320 Speaker 2: So your mom falls in love with him, but was 164 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 2: mortified because he couldn't dance exactly. 165 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 6: But then check this out ina and merengueo. 166 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 3: You know, add two or three years and some basic 167 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 3: merenga instructions and he was a full flash dancer. 168 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:45,319 Speaker 2: Oh man. So merengue saved their marriage. 169 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 4: It did save them. 170 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 3: And I actually spoke with one of the Dominican musicians 171 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,000 Speaker 3: who came to Puerto Rico to bring merengue and save 172 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 3: my father's reputation on the dance floor. 173 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 4: His name is Ringo. 174 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:01,559 Speaker 2: No, it's not Ringo in Yes. 175 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:04,640 Speaker 3: But this Ringo was no drummer from Liverpool. He's a 176 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 3: pianist from San Francisco. Ema Cordis, Dominican Republic. Real name 177 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 3: Alberto Martinez. 178 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 10: Yeah, Puerto Rico. In a new min vecinto ceas deventidos highws. 179 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:17,679 Speaker 4: He arrived in Puerto Rico when he was just twenty 180 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 4: two in the mid seventies. 181 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 10: Mandokia, Puerto Rico, Monica. What see. 182 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 3: His mother actually set him here to get him away 183 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 3: from music. But when he got here he found a 184 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 3: wide open musical territory just waiting to be seized. 185 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 10: The perando conquitao. 186 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:45,080 Speaker 2: Nira conquito, right conquered. I heard that interesting choice of words. 187 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,719 Speaker 3: Ringo remembers this moment when he realized that Medenka could 188 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:51,000 Speaker 3: have a foothle in Puerto Rico. 189 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 10: He was at amo Plaza America. 190 00:11:54,960 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 3: Plazaa America's obviously obviously, and he hears a merenga I 191 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 3: will filas coming from the speakers. He saw how people 192 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 3: all around stopped shopping and just started dancing, and he thought, 193 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 3: you all right, I'm not crazy. Puerto Rico needs a 194 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:33,360 Speaker 3: merenga group. So he formed this group called La Patria Kinse. 195 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:36,040 Speaker 3: It was one of the first bedenga bands in Puerto Rico. 196 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:40,560 Speaker 3: Ringo was a musical director. The first hit was Kusha 197 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:42,880 Speaker 3: from nineteen eighty Would You Fight? 198 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 4: Could You Fight? And in no time they were books 199 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 4: solid s. He remembers At one point he played one 200 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:01,199 Speaker 4: hundred fifty seven gigs in three months. Think about it. 201 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:04,040 Speaker 4: That's like two gigs a day every day for like 202 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 4: three solid months. And that was just one band. 203 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 3: There were others like and more and more were coming 204 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:15,120 Speaker 3: from the Dominican Republic every month to play in Puerto Rico. 205 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:19,199 Speaker 3: They play at clubs, at townfairs, at parties. My mother, 206 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:25,679 Speaker 3: Mariseol remembers it. She says it was like wait a second. 207 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 2: I momento in Santo Domingo in Puerto Rico. 208 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:34,080 Speaker 3: Am I in Santo Domingo or Puerto Rico, and that sentiment. 209 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 3: It was not exclusive to music. I used to. 210 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 11: Stay with my dad during the weekends and in the bar, 211 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 11: we had a joke box and we had fool tables. 212 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,719 Speaker 3: My name is Glori maar Panelisa Dorimaari was born in 213 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 3: Puerto Rico to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother. 214 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,120 Speaker 3: She goes to the University of connect Takota Stores where 215 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 3: she is a studying migration and popular culture. She told 216 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 3: me that Dominicans left their home in the seventies and 217 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:12,079 Speaker 3: eighties for many reasons, like the aftermath of the Trujigio dictatorship, 218 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 3: and the United States occupation and also the strong Man 219 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 3: rule of Barague. 220 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 11: It was like twelve years of a lot of violence 221 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 11: and necessity, unemployment, strikes, famine. 222 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 3: Some left the art through official channels with work or 223 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 3: study business like Ringo Fla Patria Kinse. 224 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 11: An example in Juaaluis Guerra song visa Paronsuenia, Right, they 225 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 11: talk about all the long lines, all the papers they 226 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 11: had to fill and how it was basically impossible to 227 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 11: migrate to Puerto Rico with a visa. 228 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:09,600 Speaker 2: Such an incredible song the way it's constructed, I mean, 229 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:11,800 Speaker 2: you know, forever. 230 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,840 Speaker 3: Yeah, because he's making like this catchy tune that we 231 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 3: all love, but it's about this subject that is not 232 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 3: you know that happy. 233 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. Like I remember how it ends Gardel, the 234 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:41,360 Speaker 2: idea that someone would be lost at sea, that they 235 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:44,000 Speaker 2: would drown, that they'd never return mm hmm. 236 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 4: And that's because for many people there was no chance 237 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:47,760 Speaker 4: for abisa. 238 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 11: So basically, the undocumented migration seemed to be the fastest, 239 00:15:54,520 --> 00:16:00,240 Speaker 11: the cheapest, and the most effective way to migrate to 240 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 11: Puerto Rico. 241 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 3: Many Dominicans still migrate to Puerto Rico by crossing the 242 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 3: Mona passage. That's the eighty miles of open sea between 243 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 3: the tip of Hispaniola and the tip of Puerto Rico. 244 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 4: They crossing jolas small and fragile. 245 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 3: Fishing boats, and those eighty miles, Glori Marin noted, are 246 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 3: full of people who have died trying to make that crossing, 247 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 3: with the desire to improve their lives, to. 248 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 11: Reach Puerto Rico, and in most of the cases the 249 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 11: final destination is the United States. 250 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 3: Blorimaie's father survived one of those trips to Puerto Rico, 251 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 3: and like many, he chose to stay on the island. 252 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 3: But for her father and for so many others who 253 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 3: came to make a life here, the walcan was. 254 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:46,720 Speaker 4: Far from warm. 255 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 11: It's every country migrants are perceived as that they steal 256 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 11: the jobs, and. 257 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,720 Speaker 3: That's precisely how some Puerto Rican salceros began seeing the 258 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 3: Dominican Medenga musicians who arrived as on welcome immigrants still 259 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 3: in their music scene. Ringo says it all began with Wilfrido, 260 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 3: the Dominica musician whose band could be heard everywhere in 261 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 3: Puerto Rico. Ringo remembers that with freedom on his band 262 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:22,120 Speaker 3: spent a lot of time in Puerto Rico, so much time, 263 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 3: in fact, that they ended up renting an apartment because 264 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:32,399 Speaker 3: it was cheaper than staying in hotels. And he says 265 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 3: that really bothered a lot of people. In fact, I 266 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,240 Speaker 3: there to say that's where the merenga war really began. 267 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,679 Speaker 3: The fear was that there were so many merenga groups 268 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,440 Speaker 3: that the salsa bands couldn't make that much money anymore. 269 00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:59,879 Speaker 3: They felt that every day Dominica merenguetos were taking the 270 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 3: opportunities to play and to get paid. They started to 271 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:08,159 Speaker 3: feel well, you know, displaced, and they got angry. So 272 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 3: they went to where they thought they'd be heard, to 273 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,960 Speaker 3: La fed the Musicos, the Puerto Rico the Musicians Federation. 274 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 3: They were a musicians union that was founded in the 275 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,119 Speaker 3: late thirties. They didn't have a lot of power, but 276 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:26,440 Speaker 3: when their members had concerns, they would take those concerns 277 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:27,360 Speaker 3: to the streets. 278 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,440 Speaker 4: Check this out. I spoke with Victor. 279 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 3: Guys, who managed seven amernga groups at the time, and 280 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 3: he told me about how one day the Legendardi Marenga 281 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:41,440 Speaker 3: staredjn Eventura had come from the dr to play in 282 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:49,360 Speaker 3: San Juan and the Federation was protesting outside the show. Yes, 283 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 3: it was like nothing he ever seen before. 284 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 2: Hold on, so they literally went on straight against what 285 00:18:58,240 --> 00:18:59,160 Speaker 2: against like music? 286 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 3: Yeah, like Victor Guy said, it was like something from 287 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 3: another planet. I wanted to know more about this protest, 288 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,359 Speaker 3: so I started searching for anything I could find. So 289 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,920 Speaker 3: I went to the newspaper archives at the University of 290 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 3: Puerto Rico. 291 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 2: Aha, you hit the Microfish. 292 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:20,159 Speaker 3: Indeed I did, And actually I found several articles like 293 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,680 Speaker 3: this one from eighty five with the headline they should 294 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 3: take their music and go somewhere else and Alana, to 295 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 3: set the scene for you a little bit better, I 296 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,440 Speaker 3: got a voice actor with a strong nineteen eighties five 297 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 3: to read these headlines to you. 298 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 2: All right, let's hear it. 299 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:41,560 Speaker 5: Over one hundred artists with the Federation form a picket 300 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 5: line in front of the Federal building in San Juan 301 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 5: to denounce the dissemination of visas to foreign bands who 302 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 5: displays Puerto Rican groups. 303 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 4: And that article goes on to explain just if you 304 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 4: had edit out the. 305 00:19:55,560 --> 00:20:00,040 Speaker 12: Foreign bands, the majority of which are Dominican. 306 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 2: Confirmed, the micro Fish Journey tells us there were actual 307 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 2: protests against Merengue. 308 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 3: You know, there were even pickets at the television station 309 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 3: like Telemundo where the bands would play live. And here's 310 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 3: another one from nineteen eighty edition of the newspaper El Mundo. 311 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,879 Speaker 12: The president of the Musicians Federation predicted that in Puerto 312 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 12: Rico there could be a war among musicians. 313 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,200 Speaker 2: You caught that I did the war metaphor m hm. 314 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 12: Because allegedly the Dominican bands are taking jobs from the 315 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:34,080 Speaker 12: Puerto Rican musicians. 316 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:42,200 Speaker 3: And you know what, I also remember that when I 317 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:45,200 Speaker 3: was a kid, I had actually seen evidence of this 318 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:53,360 Speaker 3: war between Medenga and Sarza. There was this commercial on TV. 319 00:20:53,800 --> 00:21:00,919 Speaker 3: It was for Shaeffer Beer. It was a huge production 320 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 3: with Puerto Rico representing salsa and we three and his 321 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 3: band rapping merengue. They were on big stages on a 322 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,639 Speaker 3: beach doing a kind of musical battle about what was 323 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 3: better salsa. And that's the kind of playful way that 324 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,640 Speaker 3: this work came up in popular culture. But the more 325 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:38,440 Speaker 3: I looked into it, the more I found that this 326 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 3: anti Mednga sentiment really inspired intense reactions. 327 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 4: I found an article in. 328 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:50,520 Speaker 3: A blog spot m hmm blog spot with like this 329 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,160 Speaker 3: nineties esthetic dedicated to the Minigan show. 330 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 2: Business Okay, I'm looking at it. It looks like an 331 00:21:57,359 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 2: ad for a casino the look. 332 00:21:59,480 --> 00:21:59,640 Speaker 10: Yes. 333 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:03,359 Speaker 4: This article was published on June twenty three, twenty twelve. 334 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,280 Speaker 3: The author is apparently a well known and now this 335 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 3: is Dominican musicologist named Scholo Renez, and he writes that 336 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 3: the introduction of Medenga in Puerto Rico was difficult. 337 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 2: Okay, So los intento Esofogard, the attempts to suffocate our 338 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:23,440 Speaker 2: rhythm in Puerto Rico like Lacanto were terrible. Okay, so 339 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:25,960 Speaker 2: already suffocate intense. 340 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 4: Yes, definitely. 341 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:29,240 Speaker 3: And in the rest of the post you're going to 342 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:33,480 Speaker 3: see more evidence of that, with allegations of trash talking, insults, 343 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:35,400 Speaker 3: even incidents of spitting. 344 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,159 Speaker 4: But what I really wanted to look at is actually 345 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 4: further down. 346 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:44,879 Speaker 2: Okay, this comment here from an anonymous poster exactly. The 347 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 2: protest against medenge was so strong that the car of 348 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 2: Jackie Lera, a conga player from the band La Patria Kinse, 349 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 2: was burned. End the quote, wow ezekiel. All right, so 350 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 2: that's written in passive voice. So we don't know who 351 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:01,400 Speaker 2: did the car burning, but you know, burning someone's car 352 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,160 Speaker 2: is actually violent, Yes. 353 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 3: I mean like burning someone's car for whatever reason is 354 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 3: on a whole other level. And if it was really 355 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:13,639 Speaker 3: for like coming to Puerto Rico and playing on my 356 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 3: younger band, yeah, that's just wrong. So obviously I wanted 357 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,920 Speaker 3: to find out more, to see if this was just 358 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 3: gossip or if things were really this dramatic. When I 359 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,520 Speaker 3: spoke to Lingo, I asked him about it, Jona mac 360 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 3: and he didn't really remember, but it sounded familiar. He 361 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,880 Speaker 3: told me that when bad things happened, he quickly turns 362 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,439 Speaker 3: the page, but suggested that if I. 363 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 4: Wanted to dig deeper, I could go right to the source. 364 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:51,159 Speaker 3: So he gave me the number of the conga player 365 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:54,160 Speaker 3: Jaqui Lera, and told me to give him a call. 366 00:23:57,320 --> 00:23:59,120 Speaker 4: And so that's exactly what we did. 367 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 10: Okay, yeah, about this. 368 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 2: Is Love Rega dot blogspot dot com. 369 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 4: Will be right back. Start say Scusha and don't you produce? 370 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:59,119 Speaker 4: Love it, Love It, Love Rega. 371 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,960 Speaker 2: We're back with La Brega. I'm Alana Casanova Burgess and. 372 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:06,680 Speaker 4: A'm Sequiroga Sandino. 373 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:09,920 Speaker 3: Before the break, we were trying to answer a question 374 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 3: in the nineteen eighties, at the height of tension between 375 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:17,399 Speaker 3: Salceros and Medenguetos, did Puerto Rican salta musicians burn a 376 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:22,119 Speaker 3: Dominican conga player's car, so we call that conga player. 377 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,199 Speaker 9: Jacqui Lera saw the San Pedro de Maccoris Republica Dominicana. 378 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,639 Speaker 3: This is Jacqui Lera of Lavator Jakins, owner of the 379 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 3: above mentioned car. And we asked him did he ever 380 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 3: see any tension between the salsa musicians and Medngi musicians 381 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 3: who immigrated to the island see see see and right 382 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:41,400 Speaker 3: away Jacquielera said yes. 383 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:48,360 Speaker 4: In fact, he had a car nah hush bark hushback 384 00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 4: that had been burned. 385 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,120 Speaker 3: He told me it happened while he was sleeping after 386 00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:57,640 Speaker 3: arriving laid from a gig. 387 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:03,720 Speaker 4: Some neighbors put out the flames Tolmando. He says. 388 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,119 Speaker 3: Everybody said it was the salsa musicians who did it, 389 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:15,359 Speaker 3: but prop he has no proof, so he never accused anyone. 390 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:23,440 Speaker 2: Si okay, wow, what do you make of all of this? 391 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:26,959 Speaker 2: What does it tell us about the Susa merenga attentions. 392 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,480 Speaker 3: I want to be clear that neither Jackie nor I 393 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 3: nor anyone else found evidence that it was Puerto Rican 394 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:37,119 Speaker 3: musicians who were behind this incident. But the fact that 395 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:39,399 Speaker 3: The first thing that came to people's mind back in 396 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 3: the day was that it must have been salsa musicians, 397 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 3: and the fact that this rumor is still with us 398 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:49,960 Speaker 3: today shows us just how high that engine was. What 399 00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:52,800 Speaker 3: is very clear now with the passage of time, the 400 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:57,200 Speaker 3: war against Medenge was a losing battle, and that brings 401 00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:59,080 Speaker 3: us to the next step in the evolution of menng 402 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:02,680 Speaker 3: in Puerto Rico, the second book that happened in the nineties. 403 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 9: There we are fourteen fifteen studio recording every day. 404 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,159 Speaker 3: Now it's Puerto Ricans were singing and playing in the 405 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:15,120 Speaker 3: merengua Evans Merenge explodes. Rishi Via remembers it really, really well. 406 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:19,400 Speaker 9: There were one hundred fifty merengue bands and all makito, 407 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,200 Speaker 9: you know, all kids who wanted to sing. 408 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:25,479 Speaker 3: Richie told me how the groups always were screaming their 409 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 3: names out and he was so right. I remember that 410 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 3: because they all sounded very similar, and that was the 411 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:34,399 Speaker 3: only way you knew whish band was Wish. 412 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:47,439 Speaker 4: This was the boom of my Aldo lessons. These were 413 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 4: the groups that were on the radio on the TV constantly. 414 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:56,160 Speaker 3: These are the groups that made me want to learn 415 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 3: how to dance because it was so popular that you 416 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 3: had to learn to actually be able to socialize. 417 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 4: Mon Man. 418 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 3: They had this new sound called merengue bomba. Instead of 419 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:17,480 Speaker 3: sounding like the classic merenga wilfrido, they sounded like this 420 00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:26,680 Speaker 3: and with this new sound, by the late nineties, Puerto 421 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:28,960 Speaker 3: Rico had turned to one of the most fertile grounds 422 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:33,600 Speaker 3: for merenge, competing with and at times even dominating Dominica merenge. 423 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 4: In the commercial market. 424 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 3: We're talking about merenge heavyweights like limit maney Manuel Olga, 425 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 3: Kings and queens of the radio, of TV, of La Feta, 426 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 3: Patronales and senior proms. And the culbination of all this 427 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 3: is that the biggest merenga hit in the world, the 428 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:54,520 Speaker 3: song that conquered dance floors and charts and in some 429 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:59,080 Speaker 3: cases introduced merenge to a global audience, was made. 430 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 4: By a Puerto Rico artists. It was elviskrespos Suleiman. 431 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:22,040 Speaker 2: I have a question, Dali, would you call this a 432 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,720 Speaker 2: kind of like a cultural appropriation? 433 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 4: Yeah, something like that. 434 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 3: And that's the ironic thing for me about all of 435 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:33,240 Speaker 3: this saga, Like if there was any tangible displacement, it 436 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 3: was for a Ricans who took over the work of 437 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:37,040 Speaker 3: the Dominican pioneers. 438 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:37,239 Speaker 4: Right. 439 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 3: They effectively displaced the older groups and appropriated their rhythm 440 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 3: under sound and paradoxically, at the same time that menenga 441 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:49,680 Speaker 3: was super popular, there was this anti Dominican sentiment spreading 442 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 3: all over Puerto Rico. Over the years, the Dominican immigrant 443 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 3: community continued to grow. By nineteen ninety they made up 444 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,400 Speaker 3: fifty percent of all foreign born people living in the Chipelago. 445 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,719 Speaker 3: In a way, the reaction that the salsa singers had 446 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 3: toward them at ghettos was like a prelude foreshallowing. I 447 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 3: remember seeing some graffiti that echoed those headlines that we 448 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,800 Speaker 3: were mentioning earlier, you know, the ones that said that 449 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:21,440 Speaker 3: they should go somewhere else with their music, but this 450 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 3: time with fewer words and much more direct Dominicans out. Dorimaripena, who, 451 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 3: as we said before, grew up in Puerto Rico with 452 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 3: a Dominican father, has had to live with that kind 453 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 3: of senophobia every day in both large and small ways. 454 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:43,000 Speaker 11: My correggressions are very sortle. When a mosquito bites you, 455 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 11: it doesn't affect you, right, But if every day, every 456 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 11: day you have Mosquito bites right. 457 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 3: That bothers a lot, people saying Dominicans aren't educated, that 458 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:56,760 Speaker 3: they're inferior, that. 459 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:57,520 Speaker 4: They should leave. 460 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 11: They are constant and they hurt, and it happens a 461 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 11: lot at school, right, and sometimes it's enabled by teachers. 462 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 11: That's the thing that it's an everyday thing. 463 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 3: In my school, people were always making jokes about Dominicans. 464 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 3: If someone made a mistaken class, you heard someone say aha, Dominique, right, like, 465 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,000 Speaker 3: don't be Dominican, and everyone would laugh. 466 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 11: It's very hard to have that do all identity when 467 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,840 Speaker 11: you are not from here nor there. Growing up, it 468 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 11: was like a negotiation because sometimes it was hiding as 469 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:41,680 Speaker 11: a mechanism of defense, but with the consequence of feeling 470 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:45,960 Speaker 11: very bad because you feel like you are constantly in 471 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:46,800 Speaker 11: a performance. 472 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:56,000 Speaker 3: Today, as an adult, I'm aware that in the neighborhood 473 00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:58,720 Speaker 3: where I was raised and in the neighborhood where I 474 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,920 Speaker 3: went to school, there was a pretty significant Dominican population. 475 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 3: It's just, you know, messed up because I remember laughing 476 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:12,840 Speaker 3: along with the class Esparis. We really accept our love 477 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:17,280 Speaker 3: for Medenge with the bron Mangu and Frsalami, but we 478 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 3: shows so little love and respect towards the people who 479 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:22,720 Speaker 3: brought those things our Dominican neighbors. 480 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 11: And there's no secret that racism and colorism it's present 481 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 11: in the Puerto Rican society and culture. It can be 482 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:40,479 Speaker 11: one of the reasons why there's so much discrimination against 483 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,280 Speaker 11: the Dominicans because we are so similar. 484 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:48,000 Speaker 3: There's this myth about race in Puerto Rico that we 485 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:51,920 Speaker 3: are quote a happy mix of white Spaniards, of Native 486 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:57,120 Speaker 3: Tinos and black Africans in that order is amazing service 487 00:32:57,240 --> 00:32:58,280 Speaker 3: of white supremacy. 488 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 11: The Dominican and can be that black other we don't 489 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:04,840 Speaker 11: want to be. 490 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:11,680 Speaker 13: Maybe we're not as first world as we think we are, 491 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 13: So let's make fun of the easiest target. 492 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 10: You know. 493 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:19,640 Speaker 3: That's Andress Beltramos, a rapper and a dj of Dominican 494 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:21,280 Speaker 3: descent raised in Puerto Rico. 495 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:23,960 Speaker 4: And he has a theory the things. 496 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:27,960 Speaker 13: That Puerto Ricans would make fun of regarding everyday life 497 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:31,240 Speaker 13: in Dominican Republic, for example, or the way that Dominicans 498 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 13: would see the world. Electricity service would go out pretty 499 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:40,120 Speaker 13: much every day. A Puerto Rican making fun of something 500 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:43,600 Speaker 13: like that is as if they were afraid of the 501 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:46,440 Speaker 13: fact that they know deep down that they're just a 502 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:48,600 Speaker 13: step away from having the same experience. 503 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:52,080 Speaker 2: This is like when I hear, oh, yes, things are 504 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,680 Speaker 2: so bad here in Puerto Rico, but wow, aren't you glad? 505 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:56,480 Speaker 2: We aren't the Dominican Republic. 506 00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,640 Speaker 3: Exactly, But now Puerto Rico is in crisis. You know, 507 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:03,200 Speaker 3: always was, Now we have crisis, we have multiple So 508 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:10,840 Speaker 3: what's the difference? Belt Cross says. These days our situation 509 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 3: kind of makes people realize that we're not so different. 510 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:18,440 Speaker 4: After all. It's easier to see us as siblings. 511 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:22,600 Speaker 13: Concept whereas been no common manner. 512 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:28,840 Speaker 3: And when you start paying attention, you realize Dominican culture 513 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 3: is everywhere in our lives, from the Shatta that we 514 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:36,480 Speaker 3: listen to on the beach to the Dominican then Bo 515 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:44,640 Speaker 3: that Bonnie likes so much. And every time bel Crow 516 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,360 Speaker 3: is spinning at some party in Puerto Rico and not 517 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:49,120 Speaker 3: this is the dance floor, it's kind of dead. 518 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:50,080 Speaker 4: Cassie is in. 519 00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:52,879 Speaker 13: Fact up seeing and party time and went to your. 520 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:55,280 Speaker 10: Again. 521 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:58,759 Speaker 4: He drops me and the party goes full swing again. 522 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:04,880 Speaker 3: That's what I think is so important, and what I 523 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:08,640 Speaker 3: have always thought was hidden in Sabamente, that somehow, some 524 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:13,440 Speaker 3: way or other, that song encompasses the complicated relationship between 525 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:17,480 Speaker 3: our two islands. And I have always seen the enormous 526 00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 3: global success of Soemente as the crowning of Merenge as 527 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:26,120 Speaker 3: the winner of the war. But of course that's not 528 00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:29,400 Speaker 3: the end of the story. So Imante success was actually 529 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:32,920 Speaker 3: the beginning of the end for Merenge. While Salsa and 530 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:36,920 Speaker 3: Merenge were feuding, Reggaeton rolled in with the younger generation, 531 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:41,360 Speaker 3: and it quickly did throne Merenge, just like fourteen Brass. 532 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:45,800 Speaker 3: It took hamlets strown while barely lifting a finger. And 533 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,120 Speaker 3: in the end, when the smoke from the war cleared, 534 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:59,720 Speaker 3: Medengeiros and Salcero started seeing the common ground they always shared. Alana, 535 00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:02,960 Speaker 3: are you ready for a really nice coda, you know, 536 00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,279 Speaker 3: like some tasty denlopment. 537 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:05,160 Speaker 1: Like. 538 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:14,359 Speaker 4: Okay, so jaqui Lera the conga player with the burnout car, yep, 539 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:15,000 Speaker 4: remember him. 540 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:17,399 Speaker 3: He remembers that one day he went to the house 541 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:20,480 Speaker 3: of Eleas Lopez. He was one of the salsa musicians 542 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:27,160 Speaker 3: he used to protest against Merengeo, and Lopez hugged him 543 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:31,919 Speaker 3: and looked right at him in Mira and he kind 544 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:33,440 Speaker 3: of said sorry. 545 00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:39,719 Speaker 4: He said, this house that you're looking at. 546 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:48,320 Speaker 3: It's thanks to Marenga that I got it, because eventually 547 00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:51,840 Speaker 3: Lopez came around and he worked with Patrija Kins andother 548 00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:55,080 Speaker 3: Marenga bands and it went super super well for him 549 00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:59,839 Speaker 3: and even Jackie with his burnt car and everything. When 550 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:01,920 Speaker 3: he asked him about his time in Puerto Rico, he 551 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:04,520 Speaker 3: didn't think twice before saying how much. 552 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:04,840 Speaker 4: He loved it. 553 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:12,480 Speaker 10: Yeah, in Puerto Rico. Get Puerto Rico. No, I'm with 554 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:13,279 Speaker 10: a comparasion. 555 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:16,960 Speaker 4: What a great time he and the other Dominican musicians. 556 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:25,759 Speaker 7: Had, Yeah, Sandiaki, and he felt that there came a 557 00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:28,080 Speaker 7: moment when Puerto Rican saw them. 558 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:34,279 Speaker 4: Has been actually from Puerto Rico. M Berdala, Patriac Puerto Rico. 559 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:42,360 Speaker 8: Thank you. 560 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:44,799 Speaker 2: I'm never gonna hear so I'm into the same way again. 561 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:49,239 Speaker 2: So I sold it you and Jackie Lera sold it. Yes, 562 00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:04,720 Speaker 2: And that's our episode. But before we go this season, 563 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:07,200 Speaker 2: we've asked Borricua artists to cover some of the songs 564 00:38:07,239 --> 00:38:09,920 Speaker 2: we're exploring. So when it came to this episode, we 565 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:13,400 Speaker 2: hit up DJ and MC Andres velcro Ramos, who you 566 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 2: heard earlier, and we asked him to collaborate with his 567 00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:19,320 Speaker 2: sister Mira Ya Ramos. She's the founder of the Latin 568 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:23,520 Speaker 2: Grammy winning all female Mariacci group flor To. Their mom 569 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:26,279 Speaker 2: is Dominican and they grew up in Puerto Rico, so 570 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,800 Speaker 2: we thought they'd be the perfect choice to work on 571 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:38,719 Speaker 2: a cover for this episode. But instead of covering Sulemente, 572 00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:41,920 Speaker 2: because let's be honest, we've all heard it enough, they 573 00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:46,040 Speaker 2: are doing a cover of a patri Ja Kinse songson. 574 00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:49,439 Speaker 6: The original was really really fast. We are definitely gonna 575 00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:53,040 Speaker 6: slow it down and give it another vibe. 576 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:56,280 Speaker 2: Picking this song to cover was a way of basking 577 00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:58,680 Speaker 2: in memories from their childhood in Puerto Rico. 578 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:01,680 Speaker 6: We would be in a liv room listening to all 579 00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:05,839 Speaker 6: those classic meeting is on vinyl on on our turntable 580 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:09,719 Speaker 6: and dancing with her mom and just being happy and 581 00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:14,560 Speaker 6: enjoying life and enjoying car Arcito, the warmth of Puerto 582 00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:16,480 Speaker 6: Rico and the island. 583 00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:27,480 Speaker 2: Mida yet in Velcrose cover of Rason, along with the 584 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:48,920 Speaker 2: full Lovedga cover album, will be available in March. This 585 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:53,960 Speaker 2: episode was written and produced by Rodrigue Gandino and Marlon Bishop. 586 00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,960 Speaker 2: It was edited by me Alana Casanova Burgess and Mark Bagan. 587 00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:02,240 Speaker 2: Original art for this episode is by Fernando Norat. Additional 588 00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:06,280 Speaker 2: music this episode from Yaser Tejeda Our Eighties VI Boys 589 00:40:06,520 --> 00:40:09,440 Speaker 2: was brought to life by Mario RoCE and the Guida 590 00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:14,200 Speaker 2: and the Tambora examples were courtesy of Ottonell Nicolas. Special 591 00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:18,480 Speaker 2: thanks this week to Marisol Andino, Miguelan Hil Rodriguez, Andy Lancet, 592 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:24,000 Speaker 2: Chikita ru Hita Lea, Camille Crockett, Amanda Alcantara, Fernando Echavari, 593 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:29,520 Speaker 2: Emanueld Fresne, Elmer Gonzalez, Francisco Perez and Rescucco pere Caa Macco, 594 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:35,359 Speaker 2: Tatiana Dia Ramos and Suhey Lugo Vasquez. The La Rega 595 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:41,040 Speaker 2: team includes Gini Montalbo, Sequel, Rodriguejandino, Joaquin Cutler, Lilliana Ruis, 596 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:46,839 Speaker 2: Tasha sandoal marc Agan, Maria Garcia, Victor Ramo Rossello, Juan 597 00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:51,640 Speaker 2: Diego Remirez, Marlon Bishop and Jenny Lawton. Fact Checking this 598 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:55,680 Speaker 2: season is by Isra Paceco and Maria Soledad. Our engineer 599 00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:59,520 Speaker 2: is Joe Plored. Our theme song is by Ife. Original 600 00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:02,120 Speaker 2: music is by Balloon. You can hear all the music 601 00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:05,800 Speaker 2: featured in this episode. And this season on our Spotify playlist. 602 00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:08,040 Speaker 2: We've got a link in our show notes, and don't 603 00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:10,240 Speaker 2: forget to tap the heart to save it to your library, 604 00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:13,520 Speaker 2: because we'll be adding to it each week. This season 605 00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:16,160 Speaker 2: of La Brega was made possible by the Melon Foundation. 606 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:21,560 Speaker 2: I'm Alana Casanova Burgess. Join us next week for track four, 607 00:41:22,239 --> 00:41:23,560 Speaker 2: I Wonder if I'd take you home. 608 00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:24,719 Speaker 7: Bye,