“Lo-fi hip hop (aka chillhop) is muzak for the Miyazaki generation. The songs the participants were listening to: Tusa (Karol G & Nicki Minaj), La Canción (J Balvin & Bad Bunny), La Mejor Versión de Mí (Natti Natasha & Romeo Santos), Que Tire Pa’ Lante (Daddy Yankee), Chalito (Calibre 50). For Rachel, language is another ‘photographic’ variable, in addition to the instruments, the rhythm, and texture of the vocals – so a Spanish lyric comes with its own special shade.” Languages, words, and even individual letters can evoke colors for synesthetes. Rachel saw mostly pale colors, while Michael tended towards richer, more saturated shades. Perhaps it is this mash-up nature of Latin music that led our participants to report widely disparate experiences of listening to our Latin playlist. Latin chart music may trace its roots to cumbia, bachata, reggaeton, salsa, or tango… or one of many other beats from the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world. What defines it as Latin is usually the rhythm. “Latin is a changeable genre: sonically, it may resemble generic pop music or R&B.

Spotify color palette based on music