With its infectious call and response vocals and topical lyrics commenting on the events and gossip of the day, the music genre plena is known in Puerto Rico as the people’s newspaper. And much like ...

Some musical genres are just particular—particular to a region or a community, without aspiring to be universally relevant or to commercially conquer new audiences. I think of the plena this way, an ...

In Santurce, a poor suburb outside San Juan, Puerto Rico, there’s a bus that doesn’t run anymore, but the stops it once madeparadasstill lend their names to the densely populated neighborhoods. Ask ...

A solid rhythm beat from stage right at the Joe Mathias Elementary School cafeteria Thursday afternoon. Gary Nunez waved his arms at the other side of the cafeteria, orchestrating a plena rhythm in ...

A blend of Spanish, African, and native Taíno music, plena is a traditional form of Puerto Rican music. The music's beat and rhythm are mainly due to the African-derived conga drums, more specifically ...

Although transnational, contemporary, and based on the Cuban son, salsa is often assumed to be Puerto Rico’s national song. Enter Plena Libre, purveyors of Puerto Rican pride and promoters of plena, a ...

Those attending the second annual Canto a Puerto Rico festival will hear some cutting-edge island music. The festival kicks off at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the Agricultural Center in Kissimmee and ...

Plena Libre is one of Puerto Rico's most popular bands, a group marked by its dynamic rhythms, passionate singing, powerful horn section, imaginative choreography and the inventive arrangements of ...

CC0 Usage Conditions ApplyClick for more information. Maps, music and video-recordings can be effectively used to discuss the present and historical incidence of the plena. In the way that rap music ...

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