The history of bomba and plena is the story of the Puerto Rican soul.
Born from labor, from song, and from resistance, both musical expressions have transcended generations, preserving in their essence the Taíno heritage that is part of Puerto Rico’s national identity. In the fields of Loíza, northeast of San Juan, and of Ponce, in the south of the Isla del Encanto, in the late 17th century and during the 18th century, the first drums resonated to the rhythm of survival, pain, and joy of a people who, with each beat against the barrel, affirmed their existence in the face of oblivion.
Bomba was born more than six centuries ago as an expression of the Africans enslaved on the island. To the beat of the drum, they danced, sang, and communicated. It was a language of resistance. Plena, for its part, emerged in the early 20th century as the “people’s newspaper”: songs that recounted everyday events, tragedies, and celebrations of the neighborhoods. Thus, both musical forms became memory and chronicle, tradition and heritage, a mirror that reflects the collective history of Puerto Rico…