Bachata is poised for some kind of takeover, as evidenced not only by record sales, but also examples like Romeo Santos’ sold-out, weekend-long stay at Yankee Stadium earlier this summer (as immortalized by Remezcla staff Joel Moya), the endless list of bachata covers of English-language pop songs that can be found on the research center that is YouTube, or even instances where those familiar guitar lines are gracefully planted under hip hop acapellas (Exhibit A: J. Cole featuring Trey Songz’ “Can’t Get Enough,” bachata-fied).
The genre is not stranger to remix culture; we can go back at least as far as 1991, with a sample clipped from Juan Luis Guerra’s “Bachata Rosa” subtly mixed into Italian political hip hop group AK47’s “Niente da festeggiare” (listen close around 18 seconds in for some familiar rolling percussion). Now, we see newly the genre getting chopped, sliced, and remixed even more expansively through bass-heavy producers like Faded, Marvel Alexander, Pxxrgvng, and even less expected examples like the alt-rock oriented leanings of Voz de Hombre.
The smooth-talking bolero lines, the heartbreak, the Drake verses, the danceable romantic turmoil; how is bachata being translated and transformed as its audience continues growing and evolving?
Press play, and turn up ever so elegantly with your special.
