Foreword Lester Monts; 1. Introduction to the Caribbean and its History - An Overview Nanette de Jong; 2. Race and Transculturation - The Cuban Son Robin Moore; 3. Salsa Soundings - Puerto Rico and the Americas Frances R Aparicio; 4. Blackness and Identity - Dominican Merengue Angelina Tallaj; 5. From the island to global stages - Dominican bachata on the move Deborah Pacini-Hernandez; 6. Investigating the Caribbean's African past - Kokomakaku stickdance from Curaçao Nanette de Jong; 7. Reframing diasporic belonging - Curaçao Tambú parties in the Netherlands Nanette de Jong; 8. Competition, Conflict and Cooperation - Haitian Rara Michael Largey; 9. Uncovering hidden histories of meaning - Guadeloupe Gwoka Brenda F. Berrain; 10. The Foundations of rap music and postcolonial emancipation - Guadeloupe Hip-Hop Florabelle Spielmann; 11. Konpa, Zouk and the politics of world music - Haiti, Dominica, Guadeloupe and Martinique Hélène Zamor and Apollinaire Anakesa Kululuka; 12. Globalisation in Reggae and the Dub Diaspora - Jamaica David V Moskowitz; 13. Musical orality and literacy in the transmission of knowledge and praxis - Trinidad and Tobago Felicity Laurence and Nanette de Jong; 14. Narratives of Return - Carriacou and the Big Drum Ritual Nanette de Jong and Linda F. Williams; 15. Decolonising Caribbean imaginings - Conclusion Nanette de Jong and Julio Nazario.