The Influence Of Music On Latino Identity

As someone who identifies with both culture varieties in Louisianan and Hispanic Texan forms, one can see the various types of differences, including music, food, recreation, and life as a seventeen-year-old. As a senior in high school, my parents still give my commutes to and from school. This can be shown by the quote, “In short, the society in which you grow up, and your particular location in that society, lie at the center of what you do and how you think” (James M. Henslin, 2014, pg. 3.) A noticeable confliction shows when my dad drives me to school, he plays the radio, which predominantly plays country music. However, when my mom picks me up from school, she uses Pandora, which gives her more independence on choosing the genre she wants. The songs she often wants to hear is Mariachi, a Spanish-speaking music genre which mixes pop culture in Mexico, folk tales, and current issues. When I either practice my driving or hang out with friends, music genre tends to lean towards what is popular amongst my age group and location, which is pop and country. When I am around my family and relatives, music tends to be in Spanish, such as Mariachi and Spanish Pop. A Mexican-American culture had been forming over generations in my family tree, as my grandparents are from Mexico and my parents are from South Texas. When I visit my grandparents and other relatives, who mainly live at the tip of Southern Texas, cultural changes start to become more apparent as radio stations change

Hispanic people are people of passion and richness. Throughout their history, they have experienced hard work in the migrant fields, discrimination, and exploitation. When the Depression came, they were accused of taking jobs away from ‘real’ Americans (Florido, 2015), From the 1940’s through today, people still complain about illegal Mexican immigrants who come to the U.S. They claim the immigrants are uneducated with no job skills, stay in poor housing, and lack education. It is against this backdrop that Chicano musicians write their music. They play with a soulful timbre that music lovers throughout the world seek as they attend their concerts, buy their albums, and download their songs.

Music is the way that I and millions of people around the world express our emotions. Many people do not feel comfortable talking about their problems, but music is a way for them to release whatever they are feeling inside. Throughout this paper, I will be discussing the history, culture, and music of the country of Colombia. The diversity and uniqueness of Colombia as a country is reflected through the music and culture. Music in Colombia is imbedded into its heritage and it’s important to the nation’s identity.

Music has been integrated in our lives more than before. In an era where portable music players and cellphones give people access to thousands of songs anywhere they go, music has easily become a soundtrack to our life. In our current era, children by the age of five will have listened to more music than Mozart was exposed to his entire life. This past winter I had the privilege of visiting Theo’s Place, a children’s home in Fond Doux Haiti. Before leaving the United States, I had been told that there would be a language barrier. As much as I tried to imagine what that would be like, I failed. I grew up with the privilege of Spanish-speaking parents, and so Spanish became my first language. On my first day of 1st grade, I was introduced to

In the last past two years, the popularity of Latin music has exploded and along with it, the careers of people like Ricky Martin, Christina Aguilera, and Enrique Inglesias. Some of these people claim a mixed racial heritage and accordingly, it seems apparent that a more tolerant and even accepting time in history has come for those of a mixed heritage. Indeed, many entertainers now come to fame based in part on having a mixed racial heritage. However, Latin music has been around for many years and its emergence in the mainstream is unlikely to be due to a more liberal attitude towards multicultural, multiethnic themes. The recent, newly found popularity demonstrates more of a realization that companies can exploit multiracialism for a profit.

Tito Puente, the Jazz musician, composer, arranger and cultural icon, is known, variously as “king of timbales and mambo”, “sultan of salsa”, and most famously as El Ray - the King - of Latin Music. His Latin identity is often emphasized in a way that is somewhat unusual for Jazz musicians. Indeed, Ella Fitzgerald, or more recently, Diana Krall, do not have their cultural backgrounds so heavily stressed. Perhaps the emphasis on culture stems from the fact that Puente is Latin Music’s most prominent Jazz musician. “Perhaps it stems from more complex issues of nationalism and music culture, as Steven Loza suggests in his fascinating study, Tito Puente and the Making of Latin Music. Nevertheless, a close look at Puente’s background,

The Chilean musicians in the Nueva Cancion movement expressed their frustrations that stemmed from corruption and assimilation. Nueva Cancion music represented the rejection of assimilating to imperialism and U.S. popular culture (Neustadt 128). According to Neustadt, “poncho-wearing musicians sang Andean songs in rallies, striving to bring people together to change a government that benefited a small ruling class over the masses of impoverished Chileans” (128). These Chilean musicians embraced their indigenous instruments, rhythms, and culture as a form of agency against assimilation. Why do some Chileans want to maintain their culture while others do not? Similar to how music effects people differently, power also effects people differently. Some Chileans still strongly identify with their indigenous cultures whereas others feel the need to assimilate. The elite class that Nueva Cancion musicians are protesting against choose to immerse themselves into the structures of imperialism and U.S. popular culture. Thus, the power of assimilation in Chile divides people of the same nationality into two distinct identities - separating one as more dominant and challenging the other to maintain their culture through Nueva Cancion

Thesis: Ever since my grandpa has gotten the sombrero, it has become a big representation of my family’s passion, culture, and love for music and each other.

On Saturday, April 29, 2017, I attended the Music of the Andes event at the Queens Library in Corona, the group was founded in 2010 with the name Inkarayku, a Quechua word that means “because of the Incas.” The group was led by its founder Andres Jimenez and he informed the audience, prior to the performance, that he created the group to link the past, present and future of Andean arts, through the performance of indigenous music. The group Inkarayku blends the organic power of Quechua folk songs with the energy of New York, the city that never sleeps. The group’s diverse line-up brings together a river of musical and artistic experience resulting in Andean folk music that transcends cultural boundaries and seamlessly shares the stage with other folk traditions of the Americas.

Studying Sandra Cisneros and Reyna Grande’s works as testimonies as they narrate their identity journeys in their non-fictional work and the realness of their creative writings serve as data that demonstrates the diversity of identity formation. For this reason, I use a qualitative methodology with a literature approach study, which allows the emphasis on both the autobiographical and fictional narratives of Cisneros and Grande. A qualitative approach provides complex textual descriptions that are necessary to identify the complexities of identity formation of two Latinas with diverse backgrounds. This study uses a qualitative approach combined with a comparative literature analysis of Cisneros and Grande’s work. The comparative literature

Having grown up in New York City during the 50s and 60s, I am familiar with the influence of Latino music. The national music of the time for most Americans was the singing sensations of Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and many others. Jazz music was soulful, but dancing to it was not very exciting. The introduction of Latin American music into Harlem from Cuba created an avenue for the people of different cultures and races to come together for the appreciation of the music and dancing. The addition of African instruments created the rhythm to bring the music out in a way that the people could not resist. The beat of the drum, created the beat of the heart to move the feet.

In chapter two, music an individual's identity as well as ones identity is music. In the chapter it mentions that identity is an individual's approach to expressing oneself and a way of communicating with others. Music also identifies an individual by the meaning and the way a certain type of music is presented. A musician I am familiar with is a singer named Romeo Santos. He sings mainly a type of music called, Bachata. He really expresses himself with his lyrics, it is as if he is telling a story about a part of his life. This type of music does have a lot of artist that sing about a certain topic. The difference with this artist is that he doesn't say the same thing over and over again, he has a beginning middle and end to his songs. It

“Ojos Así” was released significantly before Shakira achieved international status, but it continues to make appearances on her tours and performances, serving as a marker for Shakira and her image . It would be easy to classify “Ojos Así” as yet another example of Shakira’s exploration of her multiple heritages, but such a designation is too simplistic. “Ojos Así” is not only a turning point in Shakira’s identity exploration, it also represents the creative entry point for her global citizenship. In its simplest form, global citizenship presents a utopian view of organizing the political, social, and economic segments of society by placing equal value and appreciation for all cultures and peoples of the world. A global citizen places their self-association within a larger global community rather than with any particular nation-state or region . For Shakira, global citizenship provides her with the ability to cross borders and transcend linguistic and cultural barriers. Her performances resonate with peoples from all backgrounds, nations, and heritages whether or not they can understand what she is saying because she is seen as a member of a larger global community that belongs to everyone. In many ways, it also shields her from criticism when she associates herself with cultures that she has no direct relation with; she is not seen as appropriating musical cultures, rather she is seen as recognizing their value on an egalitarian global

Victor Hugo once said, “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.” Throughout history, the highly evocative language of music has played a major role in influencing societies and individuals. Some may say that music is the most complex form of expression. It communicates in a language that penetrates beyond the mind; it goes directly to the emotions and creates an environment or a feeling that defines that very moment. That music has the power to express and convey our thoughts and our emotions is without question, however, the idea that music has the power to reflect an entire society and can recreate an identity is not as well accepted. For every culture and their people, music has played a

The study of sociology is an idea interpreted as social change and public policy. This social change is heavily influenced in Laredo, Texas because of the demanding change in urban society. Additionally, this change is operated by Laredo citizen’s concerned with the system of charter and public schools on how classical music has disappeared as a necessity of the learning structure for students. Not only has classical music been completely erased from the school system, it has caused student’s grades to suffer and also to do poorly on standardized tests such as state tests or college level entry exams. Classical music is a necessity for all life and by taking away one of the educational system’s best fields of learning, it creates a difficult social issue to handle, especially for students. Although society is always on the verge of implementing the idea of social change, taking away a necessity is not going to create a pathway to success. By applying classical music to everyday life as a student, it helps stimulate daily activity in the brain, helps relate music to certain issues, and create a compassionate sense for music.