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ENTITY · PLACE / NEIGHBOURHOOD

Colón, Panama

Probable

The Caribbean-side port at the Atlantic mouth of the canal, and the arrival point for much of the West Indian labour migration that built the railway and the canal. Its Afro-Antillean population is the reason Jamaican music had a Spanish-speaking home audience in Central America long before it had a Latin market.

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At a glance

Confidence
Probable
Sources
the archive's existing panama-canal-zone-migration record; Remezcla; Afropop Worldwide.
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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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