The origin of the word is unclear. In the Dominican Republic, "Cocolo" was historically used to refer to Afro-Caribbean descendants who came to the cities of
San Pedro de Macorís,
Puerto Plata, and other areas to work on the docks and sugar cane plantations at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. The word is used in the song in English language "Guavaberry" by
Juan Luis Guerra singer.
This word migrated to
Puerto Rico where it was used by some to refer to dark-skinned Dominicans and Africans in general. In 1937, however, it only meant Black in Puerto Rico. Later, the term "cocolo" would become a slang term describing the subculture which followed Afro-Latino music, especially
salsa as opposed to rock music (those were called "rockeros"). In the Puerto Rico of the late 1970s and early 1980s, the rivalry between "cocolos" and "rockeros" was similar to the rivalry between the
Mods and the
Rockers in 1960s England