Dembow

The reggaeton riddim, named after Shabba Ranks' "Dem Bow" (1990): kick on beats 1 and 3, snare (or rim) on the "ah" of 1 and the "and" of 2, repeated for the second half. The composite is the 3-3-2 sixteenth cell, which is the tresillo at double time, played by a drum machine. The kick gives it a steady four-feel while the snares lean forward; at 90-100 bpm that combination is what makes it both a march and a sway.