From Doo Wop to Hip Hop to Reggaeton

For the last 100 years, people of African descent have played an integral part in the development of Bronx communities and have played an important role in every important musical innovation coming out of the borough.  Beginning with the settlement of Morrisania and Hunts Point by hundreds  of thousands of Black people from the American South and the Anglophone Caribbean in the 1930’s and 1940’s, which also shaped the demographic component of virtually ever public housing development built in the Bronx in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the Black population of the Bronx has undergone a dramatic transformation in the late 30 years, with the majority of new residents coming from West Africa as well as the West Indies, and with many Black people of Southern origin returning home.  The geographic location of Black neighborhoods has also changed dramatically, with the majority of Black residents in the Bronx now living in the North Bronx neighborhoods of Wakefield, Baychester and Co-Op City  But one thing that hasn’t change is the Black contribution to the musical creativity of a place which has spawned more variety of popular music than any urban center in the world.  From the jazz, latin music, and doo wop created in Bronx neighborhoods from the 1940’s through the 1960’s, through funk and salsa poular in the bronx from the mid 60’s through the mid 70’s, to the hip hop and R and B which emerged in the 1970’s and is still vital, to the  bachata, dembo, reggatone and afrobeat being produced today, Bronx artists of African descent, coming from many different countries, have been in the forefront of the Bronx continuing musical creativity. Just think of the names, from Thelonious Monk, Elmo Hope and Arsenio Rodriguez,  to the Chantels and the Chords, to Luther Vandross, Grandmaster Flash, Cardi B, Ice Spice, Romeo Santos, and Samara Joy,   What a legacy to leave for future generations!

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development in partnership with the City Council. The Kingsbridge Historical Society’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.