Celebrate Nuestra Cultura: The Enduring Legacy of Latin Music Across Borders
This Latin Heritage Month, we’re picking up Muévelo: The Enduring Legacy of Latin Music Across Borders, a book that takes a closer look at the histories, people, and cultural forces behind the music so many of us grew up with.
Written by the creators of Radio Menea, Muévelo explores the evolution and influence of Latin music while paying attention to the complicated histories that often get left out of more traditional accounts. What I especially appreciate about the book is how intentional the authors are about taking a decolonized and intersectional approach. Instead of treating Latin music as one unified tradition, they examine the many cultures, identities, and histories that have shaped it.
That approach gives the book room to ask questions that go beyond What genre is this? or Where did this sound come from?
Who gets credited for creating a sound? How have Indigenous and African musical traditions shaped what we now call Latin music? How have migration, colonialism, race, gender, and sexuality influenced the way music is created and understood? And what happens when music moves from one place to another and becomes something new?
These questions make Muévelo more than a history of Latin music. It becomes an invitation to think about who gets remembered in cultural history and how those histories are told.
Looking Beyond the Familiar
It’s easy to talk about Latin music as though it were a single category. In reality, the sounds we group under that label come from incredibly diverse places and communities, with traditions that have been shaped by centuries of movement and exchange.
That complexity is part of what makes Muévelo so interesting.
The authors look at the influences behind Latin music rather than treating the music itself as the beginning of the story. Indigenous traditions, African diasporic cultures, European colonialism, migration, and political and social movements all become part of the conversation.
That wider lens also makes space for people whose contributions have historically been overlooked or simplified. Looking at Latin music through race, gender, sexuality, and class changes what we notice and, in turn, changes the stories we tell about the music.
For readers who already love Latin music, that can make familiar sounds feel completely different. You might recognize a rhythm, artist, or genre, but suddenly have more context for understanding how it came to be.
And for anyone who has ever wondered why the music of one country sounds so different from another while still feeling connected, Muévelo offers plenty to explore.
From the Page to the Podcast
If you finish Muévelo and immediately want to keep going down the rabbit hole, you’re in luck.
I’ve been a fan of the authors’ podcast, Radio Menea, for a while, and I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys deep dives into Latin music, history, culture, and influence. The podcast has the same curiosity that makes Muévelo such a great read, but gives the topics even more room to breathe through individual episodes and conversations.
A few of my favorites:
“F Fascism” looks at the relationship between Latin music, politics, and fascism, opening up a conversation about the political histories surrounding the music we listen to.
“Indigenous Instruments” explores Indigenous musical traditions and instruments, offering another way to think about the foundations of Latin music beyond the narratives we most commonly hear.
And “Trans Mujeres” centers trans women and their place within Latin music and culture, bringing another often-overlooked perspective into the conversation.
If you’re the kind of person who hears a song and immediately wants to know Where did this come from? Who made this? What was happening when it was created?, you’ll probably find a lot to love in both Muévelo and Radio Menea.
Celebrate Nuestra Cultura, Then Go Deeper
Latin Heritage Month is a chance to celebrate the music, art, food, language, and traditions that make our communities what they are. But celebration can also be an opportunity to learn more about the histories behind the things we love.
Muévelo is a great place to start.
Whether you grew up listening to salsa, merengue, bachata, reggaetón, cumbia, boleros, or a mix of everything your family happened to play at home, there is a much bigger story behind the music. Muévelo encourages us to look at that story from more than one perspective and to recognize the people and traditions that have shaped it along the way.
So this Latin Heritage Month, celebra nuestra cultura, turn up the music, and then go a little deeper.
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