Genre research project 57/1359: Samba-Reggae

Samba-Reggae is a percussion-focused style from Bahia, Brazil, originating in the 1980s and 1990s in the Bahian carnival's afro-blocos. Initially characterised by the fusion of Partido Alto and Reggaeton, it was influenced later on by Merengue and Salsa.

With a perceived stagnation of Axé music in the 1990s, connected to its immense growth in popularity and extensively forced commercialisation, Samba-Reggae gained an opportunity to expand its influence and strength in the Bahian musical culture, later reaching popularity outside Bahia, in connection with the continuing influence of the Axé music scene.

The genre mostly seeks to recreate African percussive sounds, intending to celebrate Bahian black roots of Bahian culture through primarily beat-driven compositions, with the addition of atabaques, pandeiros and other representative instruments of the Reggae and Samba musical movements for the background sound focused in these genres. The Samba-Reggae dance is another representative element from the genre, serving as complement and background, being performed accordingly with the rhythm of the drumming.