Throgs Neck: Anatomy of an Urban Underground Music Scene

Among the many contributions of The Bronx, one that does not receive as much academic attention as it should is the borough’s long tradition of fostering local music scenes. Beyond being the birthplace of salsa and hip-hop, for the past 20 years, the Throgs Neck section of The Bronx has also been home to a vibrant independent, hyperlocal, underground music scene. The current paper uses case study as a strategy to understand the dynamics of this hyperlocal music scene. More specifically, the case study takes an inductive approach and tells the story of a scene that is very different from the historical salsa and hip-hop music scenes. The case study combines archives and observations collection from historical documents such as newspaper and magazine articles, Web sites, social media and documentaries. There are two main take-aways from the study: first, the Throgs Neck scene has not been commodified like the salsa and hip-hop scenes which has pros and cons; and second, the multi-faceted nature of the Throgs Neck scene has enabled the identity of the participants, both musicians and listeners, to grow and develop together