New York, United States, 1990s Merenhouse, often known as merenrap or electronic merengue, is a hip hop music genre that combines Dominican merengue with rap, dancehall reggae, and hip hop. In the late 1980s, New York City pioneered the fusion of Latin music, house music, and dancehall.
Merenhouse frequently sings in a rap manner (talk-singing) in addition to singing. Saxophones, trumpets, accordions, bass, guitar, güira, and tambora are among the instruments used in merengue music (drum).
They can, however, be mixed with electronic sounds or even electronic noises sampled from the instruments themselves (much like house music). Taking a sample or chunk of a sound recording and reusing it in a song is known as sampling music. Merenhouse is similar to house music in that it is energetic and geared for dancing.
It’s difficult to recognize merenhouse only based on its time signature and rhythm. Some merenhouse music has a quick 2/4 tempo and rhythms that are typical of the merengue. Some of the songs are at a slower 4/4 time signature, more akin to hip hop. Merenhouse’s sound is primarily defined by the instruments and electronics used, as well as the combination of vocal styles used.
In the 1980s, New York City gave birth to the hybrid music known as merenrap, merenhouse, or Latin house. Entrepreneur Jorge Oquendo pushed artists to blend genres. Lisa M’s second album, released in 1990, combined merengue and rap. House music, rap, Latin rhythms, and Caribbean music are all incorporated into Latin house.
Because there was a considerable change in Dominican migration to New York City in the twentieth century, Dominican merengue music can be regarded an expression of Dominican transnationalism. Renhouse was popular among a group of bicultural teenagers growing up in New York City with Dominican heritage who wanted to include both sides of their culture into their music. For Dominican Americans, Merenhouse is a symbol of national pride.
Popular genres in New York City throughout the 1990s encouraged Dominican Americans to produce Merenhouse/Merenrap: Reggae is referred to as “Jamaica’s heartbeat.” The snare drum, bass drums, keyboards, and guitars are among the instruments used. Many people immediately associate reggae with the Rastafarian faith, which was founded in the 1930s. Because of Bob Marley, the Jamaican icon, many people link Rastafarians with reggae music.
Fulanito is a Merenhouse group situated in Washington Heights, Manhattan, that is Dominican-American. They were one of the first groups to merge merengue with dance music, and their CDs have sold over 2 million copies worldwide.
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