Bachata emerged around the 1960’s, after the assassination of Trujillo.Although it was never heard of outside of the shanty towns until the 80’s.The reason for this was that Trujillo had appointed Merengue as the National Dance.
Was socially despised until 1991 and not considered a significant musical form worthy by the music industry
Bachata is no longer bound by its single class status and can no longer be defined by its low social status of its artists and audiences
In spite of all the changes, Bachata has retained its integrity as a style and will almost certainly continue to do so
In 1990’s, when musicians and music companies alike realised that they could make money out of Bachata, the prejudices began to melt away and within 2 years Bachata was transformed from a musical pariah to an icon of radical chic
Bachata is a vigorous new music, still very much in the process of developing and expanding, at both the grass-roots and middle-class levels.
It remains to be seen to what extend Bachata’s stylistic identity will continue to be tied to its original shantytown related language, imagery and stories
Music
Acoustic guitar ensemble with the percussion provided by bongo drums and maracas
It is the use of these instruments together with the rough and seedy lyrics that determine whether a piece of music is a Bachata
As recently as 1986 it was considered totally disreputable by middle-class Dominicans and was never sold in record shops as they didn’t want ‘that kind of person’ in the store
No one is sure of its origins, some say it’s always been in the RD, some say it’s a type of Cuban Bolero and some say it comes from Puerto Rico
The music gave its listeners physical, emotional and psychic pleasure
The artist would (and still do) always include their name in a track
Since 1990’s changes to the instruments have been made and today it is common to hear an electric guitar and synthesised sounds
However even with the use of technology and synthesised sounds, Bachata’s consistent and conspicuous feature is still its characteristic texture of its guitar-led ensemble with a bongo and maraca rhythm section together with its highly emotional singing style
Stylistic boundaries have expanded considerably since it emerged in 1960’s.Today there are several sub-categories distinguished by rhythm and instrumentation, as well as lyrical content
Slow romantic style
Bachatas romanticas
Canciones de amargue
Bolero bachatas
Faster style
Bolerosones
Bachatas de doble sentido
Bachatas de desprecio
Bachata-Merengue
Synthesised sounds
Tecno-bachatas
Tecno-amargues
Lyrics
Are typically about love in every expression
Was generally a way to express a very harsh life for the poor, something that all the listeners could relate to
Uses vernacular language
Contains many crude double entendres
Most Bachatas in the 1960’s were about love, the pains and the pleasures
By 1970 the themes had changed to include problems of sex, prostitution and gender relationships
The contents of Bachata lyrics, has often been brought to bear in attempts to define Bachata.Some observers rightly point out that Bachata has always been a part of a tradition of romantic music and that therefore it should be defined by its primary concern with love.According to this view Guerra’s romantic lyrics, while far more sophisticated than street-level Bachata lyrics, are well within that tradition.Others however insist that Bachata lyrics must reflect their original social contexts such as low class bars and brothels and must be articulated with barrio language and imagery
Artist and Audience
Uneducated, low class, country folk and urban poor
Mostly live performances in local venues, normally impromptu and very rarely advertised
Juan Luis Guerra
He knocked down the barriers and achieved world-wide success in 1991 with ‘Bachata Rosa’.It sold 3.5 million copies and received a Grammy in the Latin Tropical category
Being middle-classed he is not a typical Bachatero
He gave Bachata respectability and brought it to the attention of the Latin music fans, even though he was despised by middle and upper class Dominicans who felt he had let the country down by associating with Bachata
Bachata is socially accepted today, even considered by some to be a genre.
Bachata empowered Artists and Audiences by articulating and affirming their own experiences, thereby meeting their need for a music in which they were the subjects
If Bachata is threatened by anything, it will be that Bachateros, in trying to appeal to middle-class audiences, may abandon those class-specific qualities (such as barrio language and imagery) that made it aesthetically satisfying to its original constituents
Source: A Social History of a Dominican Popular Music
