It is widely thought that the Samba de Roda ceremony originated in Bahia, where enslaved Africans would gather after long days of manual labor to perform their religious rituals of Candomblé. And following these rituals, practitioners would celebrate and party, oftentimes dancing the Samba in group circles. One of the defining characteristics of the dance is the gathering of participants in a circle (roda) while each individual takes turns dancing in the center of the ring, while the others clap their hands and sing. At first a major component of regional popular culture among Afro-Bahians, the Samba de Roda travelled with its creators to Rio de Janeiro following the abolishment of slavery, where it influenced the evolution of the urban samba that is now widely recognized as a symbol of Brazilian national identity.

Claves were originally used in Afro-Cuban folk music and are among the instruments that maintain various fixed rhythmic patterns in Latin American (dance) bands. They are modern examples of concussion (rhythm) sticks, one of the most ancient musical instruments, used in various cultures in ritual for over many generations, in accompanying work, and in calling attention, as well as to keep the tempo of a song.

The berimbau is considered to be a historically sacred instrument that helped African slaves from being understood and spied upon by their Portuguese captors. In capoeira, the music required from the berimbau is essentially rhythmic. Players produce sound by beating the string furiously with the baqueta (thin stick), creating a sharp, vibrating tone. Once the rhythm is set, songs are played out via three different notes: open sound (solto), buzz sound, or medium sound (chiad), and closed high sound (preso).

Orú Seco (Orú de Igbodú) is a musical set of 22 rhythms dedicated to the Santería orishas, played at the beginning of the tambor.

Rumba is a style of dance developed in rural Cuba with original clave rhythms (two-three or three-two beat), tracing origins back to both West African and Spain. While there are numerous styles of rumba, three types are performed most often: columbia (a set of fast male solo dances, with strong emphasis on African influences), yambú (slow and graceful couples dance), and guaguancó (sexually suggestive partners dance where the male chases the female)

Yanvalou is a dance that is performed in a group (sometimes with a solo dancer in the middle) as a means of praying to Rada spirits. When the dancers invoke these spirits, they become unconscious or enter a trance. One of the most recognizable movements of the dance is the "undulation" of the spine, representing the rise and fall of waves, to honor spirits Agwe (deity of the sea) and Damballah.

Mizik Rasin, or simply rasin, is a musical genre that started in Haiti in the 1970s. Its style of music can be described as the combination of ritual Vodou music with rock and roll.