Bomba uses large drums called barriles that resemble the djembe drums of West Africa. It also incorporates a single maraca. The music comes from the colonization of African slaves in the 17th century in Puerto Rico. Bomba was used for political and spiritual freedom. When performing, women wear long flared dresses and drummers beat in tandem with the dancer’s body and skirt movements. “There is a connection between the drummer and the dancer in bomba. This is tied to the broader African diasporic tradition of call-and-response. Like a lot of musical styles, it developed in the fields as a kind of alternative mode of communication,” Urayoan Noel said, scholar and professor at NYU.

Groups like Los Pleneros de la 21, Alma Moyo and Yerbabuena play at venues like Camaradas in East Harlem. Every two years the week-long concert BomPlenazo happens in the South Bronx where groups celebrate the music. Bands from Puerto Rico as well as local ones play at the show.

Bomba is the soundtrack of the Afro-Puerto Rican experience. The music fosters a connection to the country’s past and is the base for today’s music coming from the island including salsa, reggaeton and Latin jazz.