These styles overlap and influence one another, but each has a recognisable history and musical character. The artists named here offer a starting point rather than a complete account of the region's musicians.
Reggae, ska, rocksteady and dub · Jamaica
Jamaican ska fused local music with American rhythm and blues and jazz. Its slower successor, rocksteady, helped shape reggae, with its distinctive offbeat guitar and bass-led pulse. Studio innovators later stripped recordings down and reconstructed them as dub, turning the mixing desk into a creative instrument.
Listen to: Bob Marley & The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Toots and the Maytals, Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, The Skatalites, Lee “Scratch” Perry and King Tubby.
Dancehall · Jamaica
Growing from Jamaican sound-system culture, dancehall brought deejay vocals, street language and increasingly electronic rhythms to the forefront. Digital production reshaped the genre in the 1980s and helped lay foundations for popular music far beyond the island.
Listen to: Yellowman, Shabba Ranks, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Sean Paul, Lady Saw, Shaggy and Vybz Kartel.
Calypso · Trinidad and Tobago
Calypso is a songwriter's art as much as dance music. It specialises in storytelling, satire, double meanings and social commentary. The annual Carnival season gave generations of singers a public stage on which to celebrate and challenge their society.
Listen to: Mighty Sparrow, Lord Kitchener, Lord Invader, Roaring Lion, Calypso Rose, David Rudder, Black Stalin and Denyse Plummer.
Soca and chutney soca · Trinidad and the Eastern Caribbean
Soca emerged in Trinidad in the 1970s, with Lord Shorty among its central pioneers. Built for Carnival crowds, it developed into numerous forms. Chutney soca draws on the Indo-Caribbean musical heritage of Trinidad and Guyana, while power soca and groovy soca offer different kinds of Carnival energy.
Listen to: Lord Shorty (Ras Shorty I), Machel Montano, Superblue, Destra Garcia, Bunji Garlin, Fay-Ann Lyons, Kes, Sundar Popo, Rikki Jai and Ravi B.
Steelpan and steel orchestras · Trinidad and Tobago
One of the Caribbean's defining inventions, the steelpan developed in Trinidad in the twentieth century. Tuned steel instruments form orchestras capable of playing everything from Carnival arrangements to jazz and classical music. Panorama is their great competitive stage.
Listen to: Ellie Mannette, Winston “Spree” Simon, Anthony Williams, Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, Ray Holman and ensembles such as Renegades, Desperadoes and Phase II Pan Groove.
Son, rumba, mambo and timba · Cuba
Cuban son brought together Spanish-derived song and string instruments with Afro-Cuban rhythmic traditions. Rumba developed in Afro-Cuban communities, while mambo, cha-cha-cha and later timba pushed Cuban dance music in other directions. Their influence can be heard across the Americas.
Listen to: Arsenio Rodríguez, Miguel Matamoros, Benny Moré, Celia Cruz, Pérez Prado, Israel “Cachao” López, Los Van Van, NG La Banda and Buena Vista Social Club.
Salsa, bomba and plena · Puerto Rico and the wider Caribbean
Modern salsa took shape through Cuban and Puerto Rican musical exchange, especially in New York. Puerto Rico also has its own longstanding traditions: bomba centres on a dialogue between dancer and drummer, while plena combines percussion, communal singing and topical storytelling.
Listen to: Rafael Cortijo, Ismael Rivera, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Héctor Lavoe, Willie Colón, Eddie Palmieri, Gilberto Santa Rosa and Marc Anthony.
Reggaeton and Latin urban music · Puerto Rico and Panama
Reggaeton grew through exchanges among Jamaican dancehall, Spanish-language reggae in Panama, Puerto Rican underground music and hip-hop. Its dembow-derived rhythm became internationally recognisable, while contemporary artists continue to cross stylistic borders.
Listen to: El General, Daddy Yankee, Tego Calderón, Ivy Queen, Don Omar, Bad Bunny and Rauw Alejandro.
Merengue, bachata and dembow · Dominican Republic
Merengue pairs driving rhythms with instruments such as the güira, tambora and, in traditional merengue típico, the accordion. Guitar-led bachata grew from bolero and other Caribbean influences. Dominican dembow is a distinct, fast-moving urban scene with roots in dancehall and reggaeton.
Listen to: Juan Luis Guerra, Johnny Ventura, Wilfrido Vargas, Fefita la Grande, José Manuel Calderón, Luis Segura, Aventura, Romeo Santos, Antony Santos and El Alfa.
Kompa, rara and mizik rasin · Haiti
Haitian kompa (often written compas) combines a flowing dance-band pulse with memorable guitar and horn arrangements. Rara is an outdoor processional tradition often associated with Lent and Easter, while mizik rasin connects rock and contemporary instrumentation with Haitian ceremonial and traditional rhythms.
Listen to: Nemours Jean-Baptiste, Webert Sicot, Tabou Combo, Tropicana d'Haïti, Boukman Eksperyans, RAM, Emeline Michel and Wyclef Jean.
Zouk, biguine and gwo ka · Guadeloupe and Martinique
The French Antilles have deep dance-band and percussion traditions. Biguine flourished early in the twentieth century, Guadeloupe's gwo ka centres on drums, voice and dance, and the group Kassav' carried zouk to international audiences in the 1980s.
Listen to: Kassav', Jacob Desvarieux, Jocelyne Béroard, Patrick Saint-Éloi, Malavoi, Eugène Mona, Guy Conquette and Soft.
Cadence-lypso, bouyon and jing ping · Dominica
Dominica's Creole musical identity includes jing ping's traditional ensembles and cadence-lypso, a 1970s fusion drawing on Haitian cadence and calypso. Bouyon subsequently brought a louder, rhythm-driven style to Carnival and youth culture.
Listen to: Exile One, Gordon Henderson, Grammacks, Jeff Joseph, WCK and Triple Kay International.
Spouge, tuk and soca · Barbados
Barbados developed spouge by blending local rhythms with ska and other influences. Traditional tuk bands remain part of the island's cultural heritage, while Crop Over has become a major stage for Barbadian soca.
Listen to: Jackie Opel, The Merrymen, Alison Hinds, Edwin Yearwood, Lil Rick and Rupee.
Junkanoo, rake-and-scrape and goombay · Bahamas
The Bahamas' sound ranges from the exuberant percussion and brass of Junkanoo to rake-and-scrape's saw, accordion and drum. Goombay and the distinctive guitar playing of Joseph Spence offer another way into the islands' traditions.
Listen to: Joseph Spence, Blind Blake (Bahamian calypsonian), The Baha Men, Ronnie Butler and the group The Beginning of the End.
Tambú, tumba and Dutch Caribbean sounds · Curaçao and Aruba
Afro-Curaçaoan tambú joins percussion, singing and dance; tumba is central to Curaçao's Carnival celebrations. Papiamentu-language popular music and local interpretations of salsa, merengue and Caribbean dance styles connect the ABC islands with their neighbours.
Listen to: Doble R, Izaline Calister and groups such as Grupo Serenada.
Quelbe, fungi, scratch bands and the smaller islands
Smaller islands have musical traditions of their own. Quelbe is a signature sound of the US Virgin Islands; fungi is associated with the British Virgin Islands; St Lucia has la rose and la marguerite traditions and Dennery Segment, while Grenada and St Vincent have made major contributions to modern soca.
Listen to: Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights, Quelbe musicians, Burning Flames (Antigua), Skinny Fabulous (St Vincent), Kevin Lyttle (St Vincent), Mr Killa (Grenada) and Mighty Gabby (Barbados).
Other essential connections include Belizean Garifuna punta and punta rock, Guyanese chutney and soca, Surinamese kaseko, and Caribbean diaspora music in London, Toronto, Miami and New York. The musical Caribbean extends beyond the islands themselves.
