Fuego – So Hard (Mambo Remix)

Nandy Flow Ft. Punto 40 – Ustedes No Hacen Na’ (Prod. By High Quality Inc.)

ESTE VIDEO ES UN POCO FUERTE TIRANDOLE AL PRESIDENTE LEONEL FERNANDEZ DE REPUBLICA DOMINICANA

While vacationing in the Dominican Republic over MLK weekend, I had one of those unique exchanges in which I attempt to purchase a CD of unknown provenance in the vain hopes I will stumble upon some weird hybrid music from the global postmodern. Typically these exchanges are conducted with no more than 70% comprehension by either party, terms such as “hip hop” and “bass” are bandied about, and I get some watered down bhangra or generic reggae for my troubles. This time I lucked out with Super Mambo Supremo 2008, an unlabeled CD-R with an inkjet printout of Heidi Klum next to the Domincan flag’s coat of arms, containing 19 tracks of the sound burning up the Dominican streets — mambo, also known as merengue de calle.

As is typical of such genres, names are often cribbed inappropriately from elsewhere, as the music sounds very little like mambo, at least according to my limited understanding, although “street merengue” does a much better job. The tracks are stripped-down merengue rhythms (most sound right off a Casio’s “Latin” presets), with high tempos, dirty rapped lyrics, and an occasional reggaeton rhythm thrown in for good measure. Also typical for these genres (reggaeton, bachata, cumbia, and funk carioca have similar trajectories), the older and more elevated classes of Dominican society scorned this music until popular pressure became insurmountable; now mambo artists play rallies for major presidential candidates.

Omega is the mamboista tan grande, with a distinctive gravelly voice very reminiscent of Tego Calderon. Apparently he’s so successful he can afford an entire merengue backing band, although you’d never know it from the sound. Have this many musicians ever made a sound so minimal?

Music videos (with typical girls+jewels+cars+money hip-hop imagery — par for the course) are rather the exception — I had far more luck on YouTube finding live performances on low-budget TV shows. One of the biggest hits of the genre is Galgo Mambo’s “El Viajero,” which means “the traveller” — I believe a reference to how Galgo gets around, not, unfortunately, to the rampant sex tourism in the DR:

Love that 80s soft rock intro, a staple of the Dominican radio. Raphael, our taxi driver, preferred it to anything else.

And it’s not exclusively a boy’s club, although the ladies of Unidad Key certainly need to work on their stage presence:

Mambo’s even got its preferred producer/remixer, DJ Ricky, who produced the track “No Era Por Ahi” on Tego’s latest album, El Abayarde Contra Ataca.

Sonically, mambo reminds me more of the tinny hyperrhythmic sound of Angolan kuduro than Caribbean hip hop styles, although there aren’t any links that I know of, other than Iberian-colonialism-meets-black-diaspora:

Omega Mambo Violento – Chambonea (En Vivo).mp3 (5.79 MB)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WXYQW1EG

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 01. No cojo esa feat El Lapiz

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TE1MZJER

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 02. Pila de enemigo

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CU1WH2CT

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 03. Una mirada feat Eddy Herrera

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NATGCH7N

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 04. Caramelo

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2DUCK2IO

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 05. Una Sorpresa

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0LHV82ND

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 06. Chambonea

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6UY27Q1P

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 07. Dueño

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DCFPVZZG

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 08. Lloraras

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L6RISTSR

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 09. En el Barrio

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UQDXW9XI

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 10. Ando Buscando

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3ECJ5P8U

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 11. Tiradera.mp3 (3.19 MB)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5FGH53P2

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 12. Las Alarmas.mp3 (2.3 MB)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VD79CUQ0

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 13. Ella me lleva.mp3 (2.76 MB)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q9G0IJ76

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 14. Si no me amas.mp3 (3.29 MB)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RDXK6WO2

Otra Dimensión http—merenguerd.blogspot.com- – Omega – 15. Maltrato.mp3 (4.63 MB)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T3MFH468