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Inside the Dominican Republic’s Growing Musical Scene: Expanding Globally, Fusing Genres and the Premios Heat Awards
The Dominican Republic's musical influence continues to expand, highlighted by global recognition and the Premios Heat awrds.
Bachata’s popularity, along with a rising interest in dembow and the strength of other traditional Dominican genres like merengue, have refocused attention on the music coming from the small Caribbean country that shares its island territory with Haiti but has distinct idiosyncrasies and a booming economy fueled by tourism. This is in no small part due to the explosion of Dominican dembow — an exciting, vibrant fusion that’s filling arenas thanks to artists like El Alfa, who, in turn, has helped globalize the style by working with genre-bending acts such as Camilo, Fuerza Régida, Rauw Alejandro and Peso Pluma. Rochy RD’s “Ella No Es Tuya” (with Myke Towers and Nicki Nicole) made President Barack Obama’s summer 2023 playlist, and El Alfa’s most recent collaboration, “La Botella,” features Enrique Iglesias.
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