More Than Just Dembow

Is dembow the only sound coming out of the Dominican Republic? Not even close. A lot of Dominicans like myself listen more to Dominican underground and trap music even more, and don't get me wrong, dembow is still essentially something that I listen to a lot but I see it more like a vibe to get happy around a lot of people. I believe some people that know more about artist like “Lil Naay” or more old school “Lápiz Conciente” you get feelings that maybe dembow doesn't unlock

First, I'm gonna include myself to give an opinion on the matter since I can relate a lot to it. In the Dominican Republic, there's all types of music, and I feel like that's something that makes us stand out because we do everything in the underground scene. There's Trap, Detroit rap, and many other genres people can relate to. 

Eric, a student from Forsyth Satellite explains that “The Dominican underground rap scene is currently changing a little bit, maybe more influenced by trap right now like a lot of pianos and drums being used, definitely different from the usual genre that Dominicans use like dembow.”   

I asked another student named Victor who is also Dominican: what does he think when other people from other cultures only view dembow in our music culture? He said that everything is with flow, that we have our moods for music and that maybe there's people outside listening to dembow but there's also music that hurts and takes different things out of us.

Another great thing about Lápiz Conciente is his lyricism. Everything he says has a lot meaning behind it. For example: 

Lápiz Conciente (photo credit: xceed)

¿Cuál fue el motivo, mi loca, para tu pagarme así?

Si todo te lo di, me comporté como un varón

Nunca mal procedí, y solo por ti viví

No le encuentro la lógica a tu estúpida traición

Seguimos siendo, aunque nunca fuimos

Sigo queriendo y nunca quisimos

Sigo viviendo y nunca vivimos (Wouh)

Sigo muriendo, aunque nunca morimos (Yeah)

Sigo sintiendo, aunque nunca sentimos

In english it would mean: 

What was the reason, my crazy one, for you to repay me like this?

I gave you everything, I behaved like a man.

I never did anything wrong, and I only lived for you.

I can't find the logic in your stupid betrayal.

We still are, even though we never were.

I still love, and we never loved.

I still live, and we never lived (Wouh).

I still die, even though we never died (Yeah).

I still feel, even though we never felt

One of the new artists named Lil Naay has an album coming up with a lot of his songs bringing controversy to the Dominican scene. One of the songs trended without even releasing all of this because the song was getting hate now most people like it.