The Musical Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Latin Music Scene of New York City and Interethnic Collaboration among Puerto Ricans and Cubans

Cubans and Puerto Ricans have interacted musically throughout history, yet their collaborations were greatly impacted by the 1980 Mariel boatlift. As Benjamin Lapidus notes, few scholarly works have focused on the musical impact of Cubans who arrived during the Mariel exodus. Existing scholarship on Cuban music in the United States has centered on the period before and immediately after 1959 and has overlooked important musicians who brought the newest Cuban musical information to the United States in the late twentieth century. Lapidus discusses the immediate musical effects of the Mariel boatlift by examining some of the dancers and musicians who arrived in New York City at that time. The activities of these and other musicians had long-term effects on the folkloric and Latin popular dance music scenes in New York and the United States, not only as performers but in many cases also as teachers for subsequent generations of Cuban and non-Cuban musicians. These interactions produced hybrid forms of both Cuban and Puerto Rican genres. Mariel immigrants served as important points of connection for musicians and dancers who arrived in the early 1990s during the era of the balseros (rafters) and would fit into established networks of Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians.