There are various music genres that were "born" in Puerto Rico - native genres such as the decima and seis folk music genres, danza, plena, bomba and salsa.

However, there are other music genres that have influenced the music of Puerto Rico in one way or another. They too deserve recognition in order to understand the music created by and enjoyed in Puerto Rico.

These would include:

• the son and mambo from Cuba
• the merengue from the Dominican Republic
• and jazz from the United States
• and bolero

These "foreign" music genres have either directly influenced what we typically call the "native" music genres, or...

...they have influenced the people by their sheer popularity; attracting significant numbers of Puerto Rican artists who perform or contribute to those genres.