BETA
Chapter 1
The Jamaican roots of the riddim
Chapter 2
The Panamanian and Puerto Rican evolution
Chapter 3
The Dominican Republic explosion
Chapter 4
The global pop takeover
YOUR GOAL
Master of The story of dembow
Ch 4 · The global pop takeover
chino The global pop takeover
From Jamaica's beat, a new sound takes flight, Dominican Dembow, shines so bright! Global pop power, through day and night!
chino Bad Bunny used dembow as the foundation for his historic stadium tours and record-breaking albums.
chino Top English-speaking pop stars adopted the dembow beat, embedding it into the mainstream radio sound.
Fun Fact
Streaming giant: The dembow-driven video for "Despacito" was the first YouTube video to surpass five billion views.
Glossary
reggaeton (noun)
A style of popular dance music originating in Puerto Rico that blends reggae rhythms with hip-hop. Luis Fonsi's 2017 hit Despacito cemented the genre's dominance in mainstream music worldwide.
A style of popular dance music originating in Puerto Rico that blends reggae rhythms with hip-hop. Luis Fonsi's 2017 hit Despacito cemented the genre's dominance in mainstream music worldwide.
Quiz
Which Drake song from 2016 reached number one globally using a dancehall/dembow rhythm?
Quiz
What historic achievement did Bad Bunny's album "Un Verano Sin Ti" accomplish at the Grammys?
Quiz
In which non-Caribbean musical genre are you now highly likely to hear the syncopated dembow rhythm?
Quiz
Which American producer worked with Justin Bieber on the dembow-infused hit "Sorry" in 2015?
Quiz
Which Bad Bunny track famously transitions into a high-speed Dominican dembow beat halfway through?
Quiz
Which 2017 global hit by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee spent 16 weeks at number one in the US?
Quiz
What makes the dembow beat so easily adaptable to different global languages and genres?