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ENTITY · PLACE / NEIGHBOURHOOD

Brooklyn, New York

Well supported

The transfer point. New York's Jamaican and Panamanian communities lived within reach of each other and of the city's dancehall studio economy, and it is here that Panamanian deejays cut Spanish-language versions of Jamaican rhythms for producers working the New York end of the Kingston record trade -- including the "Pounder" variant that reached Puerto Rico.

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At a glance

Confidence
Well supported
Sources
Wayne Marshall, "Dem Bow, Dembow, Dembo"; the archive's existing New York route records.
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Connections

In stories

Story · Well supportedWho owns the riddim?

A rhythm built in a Kingston studio in 1989 travelled to Panama, through New York, into San Juan, and became the pulse of the biggest Spanish-language pop music on earth. A Los Angeles court is now preparing to put the question of who owns it to a jury.

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Compiled and researched by The Jamaica Music Atlas music desk. The sources that informed it are credited above.

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