High School Student Handouts
page 1 of 4
American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music
Name: ___________________________________________________________
Latino Cultural Group Worksheet
Identify and list below two Latino cultural groups that immigrated to the United States and today are part of the American
political, economic and cultural landscape. Washington state students can use the chart to assist in developing an essential
question for the Cultural Interactions Classroom-Based Assessment.
Select two of the three following Latino cultural groups:
Cultural Group 1:
Mexican Cuban
Puerto Rican
Cultural Group 2:
One area of settlement
A second area of settlement
Social conditions
Political status
Economic status
Cultural contributions
Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
High School Student Handouts
page 2 of 4
American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music
Name: __________________________________________________
Music as Historical Source
To complete this worksheet, you will have to refer to the Historical Background. Use the Internet or traditional research methods in
the library to learn about the listed Latino musical genres. To help you get started, refer to Appendix A: Related websites in music
and Latino art, culture and history.
You may choose to investigate either corridos and plena or salsa and hip-hop.
Research the styles and the history of the Latino cultural group that created them. Note information about the music’s history, the
time period in which it was created, the artists who perform it, the regions in the United States where it is most often heard and
the culture in which it was created. Write a two to three page paper about the Latino cultural group’s experience with specific
political, economic and social issues in two regions of the United States and how the musical forms listed reflect these experiences.
Musical Genres
1.
2.
Name three artists who perform in this genre
Describe the music and the instruments used
Latino cultural group from which this music
originated
When did this music originate?
Part of the U.S. where this music is heard today
What issue(s) does the music address? What is the
subject matter of the lyrics?
Is this music heard today? How popular is it?
Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
High School Student Handouts
page 3 of 4
American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music
Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
Yes
Student-researched
comparison:
Student-researched
comparison:
Student-researched
comparison:
Cultural group holiday
Cinco de Mayo (May 5), Day
of the Dead (November 1)
Musicians address political and Yes
social issues in their work
Yes
Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
Yes
Mambo, salsa, boogaloo,
hip-hop
Yes
9.6%
Jennifer Lopez, Tito Puente,
Tito Rodriguez, Daddy
Yankee, Willie Colón
Yes
Important participants in U.S.
music business
3.5%
New York
Celia Cruz, Desi Arnaz, Gloria
Estefan, Arturo Sandoval,
Machito
58.5%
Percentage of U.S. Hispanic
population, according to the
2000 U.S. Census
Florida
Operation Bootstrap in the
1940s and 1950s
Ritchie Valens, Carlos
Santana, Selena, Linda
Ronstadt, Akwid, Los Lobos
Texas and California
Particular patterns of
settlement
Cuban Revolution of the
1950s
Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens;
no visas are required for
travel.
U.S. musicians of this
heritage
Mexican Revolution of 1910;
Bracero Program with U.S.
government beginning 1942
Major events prompting
immigration
Cuba and the U.S. do not
have diplomatic relations so
Cubans cannot receive official
permission to immigrate to
the U.S.
Boricua; sometimes Nuyorican
if living in New York City
Yes
Mexico and the U.S. have
diplomatic relations; Mexicans
are asked to have visas to live
and work in the United States
U.S. government relationship
with place of origin
Cuban American
Spain
Yes
Chicano
Term for cultural group
Spain
Spanish
Yes
Spain
Originally colonized by
Spanish
Caribbean
Influenced by African rhythms
Spanish
Language of heritage
Caribbean
Latin America
Puerto Rican
Mambo, rumba, cha cha cha
Mainland of Central America
Region of origin
Latin America
Cuban American
Some musical styles performed Conjunto, corridos, tejano,
by artists from this group in
banda rap
the United States
Latin America
Continent of origin
Mexican American
Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans
COMPARE AND CONTRAST
High School Student Handouts
page 4 of 4