#punta rock

Punta and Garífuna culture

Punta rock emerged in the late 1970s and early 80s, at a time when young Garinagu were eagerly listening to up-tempo dance music emerging from North America and the wider Caribbean. Local Garinagu musicians were confronted with the prospect of doing little more than performing cover versions of songs by international musicians, if they wanted to retain any relevance to the younger members of their community. What they did instead was take influences from calypso, reggae, zouk, and soca and couple them with an accelerated version of their own traditional punta rhythm. In doing so, they invented a hugely popular new genre that was distinctively their own.