Merengue house: the merengue New York turned into techno

From the Lower East Side to the continent

Proyecto Uno was born in 1989 in Manhattan's Lower East Side, founded by Nelson Zapata and managed by Porfirio “Popi” Piña. The group —of Dominican-American roots— pioneered blending merengue with techno, dancehall, hip-hop and reggae: a style the press and public came to call merengue house, or merenhouse.

Their track “El Tiburón” (1993) became a continent-wide anthem; in 2018, Rolling Stone ranked it 24th among the “50 greatest and most influential Latin songs since the 50s.” The band won Billboard Latin Music Awards in 1997 and 1998, picked up Lo Nuestro nominations and wins, earned an Emmy nomination for outstanding original music composition in 1999, and in 1996 provided Colombia's national team with its official World Cup song.

A similar name, two different scenes

In English, the term is sometimes translated as “tecno merengue” — but it should not be confused with the genre of the same name that, unrelated to New York, producer Luis Alva and singer Roberto Antonio were creating in Venezuela around those very same years. These are two separate fusions of merengue with electronic sound, born in parallel in two different countries, each with its own artists, discography and industry.

Sandy & Papo: the duo that went dark at its peak

From that same scene came Sandy & Papo, formed by Sandy Carriello (“Sandy MC”) and Luis Deschamps (“MC Papo”), both Dominican, after a Proyecto Uno audition turned into a duo of their own under Nelson Zapata and Pavel de Jesús. Between 1995 and 1999 they recorded three albums, including “Huelepega,” which accompanied the promotion of the 1999 Venezuelan film of the same name, and a cover of “I Like to Move It” (“El Mueve Mueve”).

On 11 July 1999, Luis Deschamps died in a car accident. Sandy MC continued as a solo artist and in 2000 released “Homenaje a Papo” in his memory. Years later, another of their songs, “Candela,” reached a whole new audience on the soundtrack of the film “Happy Feet” (2006).

Fulanito and the wave that kept building

Fulanito, formed in 1996 by Rafael “Dose” Vargas and Winston “Win” Rosa, added its own blend of merengue with house, hip-hop and bachata. Their debut album, “El Hombre Más Famoso De La Tierra” (1997), sold over 500,000 copies and produced the single “Guallando,” song of the year in Colombia in 1998. Their next album, “El Padrino” (1999), earned a Grammy nomination. Altogether, Fulanito sold more than five million records worldwide and even landed on the soundtrack of the film “Shaft” (2000).

From stadiums to the miniteca dancefloor

By the time “El Tiburón” was on the radio, Proyecto Uno was already filling stadiums, winning Billboard awards and up for an Emmy; Fulanito was selling millions of records and landing on Hollywood soundtracks. Merengue house did not need minitecas to succeed: it succeeded on radio, television and the continent's biggest stages on its own merit.

But, like every massive radio hit of the 90s, it also ended up playing in every Latin American miniteca: the fast tempo, the electronic bassline and the shouted-along chorus did the same job as the imported techno or house of those years, but sung in Spanish and danced in pairs.