The Music of Resistance: La Brega Returns With An Album

“En la brega.” If you’ve spent any time around Puerto Ricans, you’ve no doubt heard this or some version of this saying. Coming from the Spanish, “bregar” which means “to toil,” the saying has become short-hand across the island and its diaspora for dealing with the struggle. Historically, the island has seen many struggles. From Spanish colonialism and slavery to American invasion and mass immigration and even forced sterilization, Puerto Rican history is filled with dark episodes that see us constantly in “en la brega.” So it’s only fitting that a podcast tackling many of these issues through the lens of the Puerto Rican experience take the phrase as its name. Now, alongside its upcoming second season, “La Brega” is launching a companion album featuring Puerto Rico’s most buzzworthy up-and-coming artists. Together, the podcast and album pay homage to an integral medium Puerto Ricans have used to confront their issues head on for centuries: music.

For decades, Puerto Ricans have used music to tackle social dilemmas. The musical genre of bomba is often called “the music of resistance” for the way its songs can not only be used to detail the many challenges of daily Puerto Rican life, but as a rousing call-to-arms, its heavy drums beckoning all citizens to the batey to express themselves through song and dance. Similarly, the 2019 protests that led…