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Oye Como Va!: Hybridity and Identity in Latino Popular Music. By Deborah Pacini Hernandez. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2010. Pp. 238. Figures. Halftones. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $24.95 paper.
As anthropologist Deborah Pacini Hernandez affirms at the beginning of this cultural history, hybridity comprises the defining feature of contemporary Latino musical practices. Indeed, the assertion that musical mestizaje constitutes the rule as opposed to the exception quickly emerges as the theoretical underpinning of Oye Como Va! Engaging topics ranging from Chicano rock to Puerto Rican freestyle to Colombian cumbia, Pacini Hernandez approaches popular music as a vehicle that not only reflects, but also perpetuates, hierarchies of power. Her treatment of Latino popular music primarily departs from much of the existing scholarly literature via its emphasis on genres not typically associated with "traditional" Latino music, such as doo-wop, rock, pop, and disco, among others.
The author's methodological approach is both comparative and interdisciplinary. Pacini Hernandez does not claim to offer a comprehensive...