OPINION | The meringue took the Dominican Republic around the world

Anitta, Olga Tañón and Milly Quezada during their presentation at the 2020 Latin Grammy Awards (Credit: Rich Fury / Getty Images)

Editor's Note:

Milly Quezada is known as "The Queen of Merengue."

During the 70s and 80s he was part of the group "Milly Jocelyn & Los Vecinos" and had hits such as "La Guacherna", "Returned Juanita", "Tengo" and many more.

Quezada is the winner of multiple recognitions such as the Latin Grammy, Billboard Awards, Premios Lo Nuestro, among others.

Quezada wrote this column to remember that Unesco has recognized the merengue as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

(CNN Spanish) -

Thinking about our lives in this November 2020, I hope we can see it as an opportunity to be grateful for the way we are surviving the horror of a pandemic that has put us on our heads and on our knees on a level world.

Or perhaps we see it as the beginning of that countdown in turbulent times of our existence, which has forced us to rethink a new way of approaching life.

Better yet, I invite you to see it as a month that aims and bets on merengue, Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity established by UNESCO in 2016, and that identifies a generation of artists who have stood out in recent decades as interpreters. This genre marks a country that continues to conquer borders and hearts and make humanity dance, even in times of isolation and curfews.

November honors merengue, indigenous music from the Dominican Republic, recognizing it as a rhythm that does not give up, reinvents itself and continues to portray us as fans of contagious Caribbean joy.

I am one of those lucky ones of this artistic class who has lived through the glorious era known as "The Golden Years of Merengue", in which artists such as Sergio Vargas and Wilfrido Vargas stood out.

It was during the 80s that I was in the group "Milly Jocelyn and the Neighbors".

I have lived great and glorious musical experiences with a repertoire that today has 34 record productions, and I have received multiple national and international awards, including the prestigious Latin Grammy on four occasions that bring great honor to our popular Dominican music .

I consider myself a cultural ambassador for being part of a diaspora in New York City, from where the group was formed –– specifically on the streets of Washington Heights–– better known as a piece of Quisqueya (municipality of the Dominican Republic) in New York , due to the enormous number of Dominicans reported by the census in the tri-state area of ​​New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Our beginnings were very organic, responding to the need to be "connected" with our culture, our customs, in a city that forced us to assimilate another language, another way of living.

And what better way to do it than with music!

We played wherever Latin music was required!

And we recorded our first album, "Esta es Milly con Los Vecinos" in 1975, accidentally finding that we were filling a gender gap in our Dominican popular music, since there were no women singing merengue.

The country received this album and our group with open arms, giving us the opportunity to develop what would be 20 years of recordings and annual tours around the country, and later around the world, due to the great popularity that our music acquired and that It opened doors for us in places like Europe, Japan, Latin America and the United States.

We met at festivals with artists such as Johnny Ventura, Rafael Solano, Fernando Villalona, ​​Los Hermanos Rosario, Eddie Herrera, and we alternated with groups of other musical genres such as the Fania All Stars that stood out greatly.

I cannot fail to recognize the musical contribution of the famous artists Casandra Damirón and Elenita Santos, who contributed to make way for those of us who have excelled in the merengue, and who are the forerunners of those who carry the merengue as a flag inside and outside the Dominican Republic. .

It should be noted that the universal contribution of the music of the famous singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra has been fundamental in putting our meringue on foreign beaches and that it continues to bring our cultural and musical identity around the world to great honor.

How good that November marks a stop to recognize our country brand music and many of our national interpreters such as Miriam Cruz, Manny Cruz, and who has just been crowned with a 2020 Latin Grammy in the category of best merengue album, our Eddie Herrera!

Also recognize the excellent musical work of internationals such as Puerto Ricans Olga Tañón, Elvis Crespo, Grupo Manía, and many others who join the artistic class who see merengue as an obligatory musical genre;

an economically attractive musical proposal that has given them a successful stature internationally.

Merengue continues to evolve with the times and we can listen to urban proposals with nuances that identify it as merengue to the delight of youth, who in these times consume rhythms such as rap, hip hop, reggaeton, competing with the genre.

Artists such as Daddy Yankee, Ilegales, Vakero, Omega, Ala Jazaah, Mozart la Para, to name a few, venture into hybrid versions of our merengue, always establishing that our genre will continue to delight us for a long time.

To the young artists who have come up to assume the artistic commitment to carry our music as a flag, my best advice is based on not being carried away by the desire to achieve notoriety or ephemeral popularity, following cheap or banal formulas.

Quality is not improvised and there is no exact formula to create a "hit".

For each success achieved they will have to get up off the ground multiple times and try again!

There is a high price to pay to achieve a prominent place in this music industry.

Finally, they have to be prepared to recognize that if this profession is their passion, they will not skimp on investing resources and time in dedicating their best effort, discipline and patience to achieve the goals they set.

Success will come in God's perfect timing, and while the recognitions and awards arrive, enjoy the process and the journey, delight in doing everything with quality and integrity, so that future generations will find in you an excellent starting point.

Merengue Dominican Republic