Latin American Folk Music

Latin American folk music encompasses the traditional and folk musics of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking America, formed from the meeting of Indigenous, European and African cultures. Its repertories range from the son traditions of Cuba and Mexico and Brazilian samba de roda to the Andean huayno and the nueva canción songwriting of Chile and Argentina. Singers such as *Atahualpa Yupanqui*, *Violeta Parra* and *Mercedes Sosa* treated folk song as both preservation and social commentary, and these regional styles remain the foundation of much Latin American popular music.