Seconds into Bad Bunny’s chart topping song “La Romana,” the Puerto Rican’s baritone voice demands “pásame la hookah.” Translating to “pass me the hookah,” he repeats this hook over an instrumental sampling Leonardo Paniagua’s 1999 bachata “Fue De Los Dos,” later transitioning to a Dominican dembow. The music video, co-starring Dominican dembow artist El Alfa, showcases multi-hose hookahs front and centre and, along with the slang, dominos, and bachata dancing, everything seems distinctly Dominican.
Fact is, when it comes to the smoking device now central in Latinx club scenes – specifically the Dominican-American community in New York – the beloved hookah didn’t come from either of these artist’s local cultures. Its roots can actually be found in Emperor Akbar’s royal court in 16th century India, an invention of the Persian-speaking world at the time. Now, it’s global.