The immigrants imparted the first generation in London and New York with the same influences. They heard Latin classics blasting from their neighbours windows and they all experienced the rise of hip hop, r&b and grime together. In these concrete jungles, the legacy of the diaspora lives on; reggaeton borrows from dancehall, hip hop is influenced by reggae then suddenly the calles and streets all become eerily familiar. The cultural nuances spread far and wide giving new meaning to what’s foreign and what’s not.

From St. Vincent, Trinidad, & Panama, Colombia, Puerto Rico, to Jamaica & Cuba.

Grab a map and listen along before you shuffle.

Nostalgia leaves out the local transformation, those that didn’t escape the incessant birdsongs and crashing waves. The trees are replaced by a canopy of buildings but the cool breeze is no longer your saviour.

Anchors adrift inevitably long for their native shores; a home unseen & unlived resonates in our DNA. The call echoes when we finally touch the soil - close to the earth of yesterday the reunion is bittersweet. The magnetism withstands the test of time and distance and pulls us back after one generation or 3 if you let it a longing for a home you may never truly know. The diaspora finds solace in itself but carves out it’s own niche a new identity in a foreign land.