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Cultural Insider Playlist (Bahamian Music)

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 Hey everyone! Welcome to  my blog, where I plan to cover all of my favorite examples of songs which fall under the genre of Bahamian music known as Rake n Scrape. These songs tend to have quite the joyous and upbeat feel to it, which perfectly encapsulates the vast musical landscape we have here in our Bahamaland. I'd like to start off with my favorite piece currently, titled "Numba Man" by Bahamian artist Bazie. The instruments of this song radiate a jubilant tune, with the lyrics giving credence to the prevalence of gambling in the Bahamas. Its very common for Bahamians to try their luck and buy some numbers if they can. The song further accentuates how people also tend to rely on gambling at times for a quick break due to economic troubles such as receiving a late paycheck. It's quite easy to undermine the severity of the songs contents simply because of how the boisterous drums, catchy bells, laid back tone and the trademark "scrape" sound all combine t...
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Creolization in the Spanish Speaking Caribbean

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 Hey everyone! Welcome back to the last installment of my personal blog of music in the Caribbean :D Throughout my entries I've honestly learned a lot about music in our little Caribbean, and I hope you've been enjoying learning about it as much as I do. Today, we'll be looking at creolization in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. The example which we'll focus on is Baquiné, which is found in Puerto Rico. As stated by Daniel Thompson in his research paper titled "Puerto Rico", Baquiné refers to a communal vigil that is placed over the body of a deceased child the night preceding a Christian burial. Due to the adolescence of the child, those who participate believe that the child has died without sin. As such, this results in a celebratory type of occasion rather than that of mourning. Personally I find this to be quite fascinating, as although we all dread the concept of death, this occasion is seen as that of a joyous one due to the assurance those involved rec...
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Creolization in the Dutch Caribbean

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 Hey everyone! Welcome back once again to my blog :) This week has been quite busy for me, and I'm sure it has been for you too. So lets talk about what interested me recently. Ever since my last entry, I began researching deeper into creolization in the Caribbean and today, we'll be looking over the Dutch Caribbean.  To start off, we'll be discussing tambú, which is synonymous with the country of Aruba. Tambú is a blanket term that refers to a native dance, music accompanying said dance and the drum that is used to play the music. According to Christine Gangelhoff's book titled, Tour De Force, in chapter 3 titled "Aruba", the tambú is a sheepskin drum that is primarily made with a hallowed out log or rum barrel. The music that's produced with the tambú consists of call-and-response singing. This style of singing engages the audience in a brilliant manner, as it encourages participants to clap their hands and stamp their feet, making performances with tamb...
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