One of the most popular Latin music dances and genres is Salsa—the amalgamation of Afro-Cuban rhythms and a variety of Latin-American styles of music. Salsa is the culmination of the hybridity of decades, even centuries, of music, with a history that is defined by the diaspora of various groups that highlights themes such as resilience, resistance, passion, cultural syncretism, identity, love, fun and partying (rumba). The cultural weight of salsa music is extremely rich and complex. In broad terms, salsa music features Afro-Caribbean percussion such as congas, bongos, and timbales, as well as vocal elements such as the call and response, usually answered by the chorus (pregones) and other instruments from the West, such as the classical guitar, piano, and trumpet. Willie Colón, an important composer, songwriter, performer and one of Salsa’s most recognized names, said this: (Salsa) “is a validation, a cultural place, a platform to tell our stories and communicate across the broad expanses that we inhabit” (Waring). In this section, I will address the origins of Salsa, the predecessors of the musical movement and the culture that influenced it, as well as the influences for its creation, the legacy of Salsa in other musical movements and its impact in some societies. Throughout this essay, I will also try to answer the following questions: Where does the term “Salsa” come from? What were the origins of Salsa music? And what is the impact of Salsa on society, pop culture and other musical genres(influence)? How does Salsa’s history reflect power, resilience, and resistance?

Origin of the term:

One can trace the history of Salsa back to the first half of the 20th century. However, it is well known that the use of the term Salsa is much more recent, popularized in the 1970s by one of the most important record labels, which is the label that gave name and shape to Salsa as we know it: Fania Records. The record label, founded by Johnny Pacheco and Jerry Masucci in New York, is arguably responsible for baptizing the mix of all these musical genres with the term “Salsa” for branding and commercial purposes (Inventing Salsa). However, Pacheco nor Masucci were the ones that came up with that name for the term; they just popularized it. During the 1960s, the Venezuelan DJ Phidias Danilo Escalona worked for the Radio Station “Radio Difusora Venezuela” and had a Radio Program called “La hora de la Salsa, el sabor y el bembé” which translates to “Time for Salsa, Flavor and Bembé” Escalona was a music expert and his specialty was Afro-Caribbean music, he already knew some artists that were later celebrated as Salsa exponents, such as Tito Rodriguez. The story goes that while he was thinking of a name for his program, he went to have lunch with his friends; someone asked for sauce, “Pasame la Salsa” (“Pass the sauce”) and from there, they got the idea (“Phidias contado por él mismo”). The program was also sponsored by a ketchup brand (Salsa de tomate) called Pampero, which gives the program’s name a subtle nod to its sponsor and the music style it presented. This radio program was a huge success, and it contributed significantly for the term “Salsa” referring to Afro-Caribbean sounds. This story may answer the question of how the term “Salsa” came to embody this musical movement, but there are registrations from decades before that highlight this term as music.

An earlier use of the term “Salsa” for music traces back to the 1930s. Ignacio Piñeiro Martínez, one of the most important figures of what is called Son Cubano had a band called “Septeto Nacional” founded in 1927 and in 1933 they released the song called “Echale Salsita” (Put a little sauce in it) with “Salsita” being the diminutive for “Salsa” (“Ignacio Piñerio y la historia de Echale salsita”). The song is narrated by someone who is telling the chronicles of a festive night; he says that he is going outside for the night, looking for fun, happiness and pleasure. He then gets to a “bacanal” which is a word to describe party, euphoria, and music, and he hears someone screaming the word “Salsa”, followed by “Echale Salsita,” which is an invitation to put some rhythm and flavour into music and also to life. With this song, we can deduce two things: First, this song describes perfectly what Rumba is: a night with music, party, and euphoria. Second is that with the content of the lyrics, we can say that Piñeiro is also not the author of that term either, because he himself describes a situation where other people talk about Salsa as music.

Having reviewed some of the history behind the term “Salsa” and its usage for music, it can be said that this term cannot be attributed to any specific person, because it appears that this term has been used to describe music from even before they were recordings of it and the best we can do is to recognize the people who made this term, and the music it describes, global.

Some people argue that the name “Salsa” may be harmful for music because it homogenizes the multiple styles and music genres behind it to one single term, and it obscures the specific roots of each style, primarily affecting Cuban musical traditions. Tito Puente, the king of timbal and one of the most important figures behind the musical movement, commented on the topic saying: “Yo sólo conozco una Salsa que venden en botella, llamada catsup. Yo toco música Cubana.” (I only know a Salsa sold in a bottle called ketchup. What I play is Cuban music.) (Salsa Is More Than Salsa ). Eddie Palmieri says: “The term salsa is an insult to the rhythms we play; they have their proper names. Out of the rumba comes el guaguancó, el yambú, la columbia, danzón, la danza, el changüí, you have guajira, the bolero, the mambo, the cha cha cha. That’s why the kids don’t know how to play our genre anymore, and it’s a total disaster what you have, rhythmic disaster and harmonic disaster because the arrangements are so bland that if you’re dancing with your partner, you should bring a little mini-pillow because you’re going to fall asleep on her shoulder.” (mauludSADIQ) On the other hand, others argue that the term unifies plenty of sounds and, more than being a rhythm, it is a concept that has the characteristic of being a blend of different styles and sounds. Willie Colón said this: “Salsa is not a rhythm, it’s a concept. It’s a way of making music. It’s an open concept and the reason that it became so popular is because it was able to evolve and accept all of these other musics. We put the bombas and plenas in it; we put calypso, samba, bossa, and cumbia in it. It’s definitely not even a Puerto Rican or a Cuban music. It’s a reconciliation of everything you can find.”(“Willie Colón”) Answering Tito Puente’s last mentioned statement indirectly, Colón said: “A lot of people like to characterize salsa as a pastiche of Cuban son. There’s no denying that there is a Cuban influence and a Cuban base to it, but it’s so much more.”(“Willie Colón”) The use of the term “Salsa” has been up for debate for a long time, but the fact is that this term popularized the music of plenty of artists, including Puente itself who rebranded his music as Salsa for commercial reasons.

Colonial and Post Colonial History:

Salsa’s socio-historical roots extend back to when enslaved peoples from West Africa were traded in the Caribbean Islands (Boggs). The main islands on which these people ended up are Puerto Rico, Cuba and La Española (which is now the territory of Haiti and Dominican Republic). This created a cultural exchange between three ethnicities: the Europeans who were the oppressors; the indigenous people, who were in vast majority Taíno’s and facing near extinction, and the African slaves who were the oppressed. “Es que yo tengo tres razas Jíbaro, taíno, niche, mamita-mamita, ¿qué pasa?” (“I have three races Jíbaro (countryman, heavily influenced by spanish culture), Taíno(Indigenous), niche(African), mamita-mamita, what’s going on?”) (Héctor Lavoe - La Fama (Letra Oficial))

First, the enslaved African used percussion instruments. Although they later prohibited them due to the possibility of the creation of a language based on the drums that could be difficult to communicate to each other without the awareness of Europeans (Boggs). Because of this prohibition, the African slaves started using boxes and other items as percussion instruments in areas like Perú. The enslaved Cubans used the Batá drums for sacred rituals, and those rituals led to the practice of Santería, which is an example of religious syncretism between Christianity and Yoruba, an African religion, which has similar saints. Santería is still practiced throughout the whole Caribbean as well as Haitian Voodoo, which also uses Batá drums (Boggs). From the use of Batá drums, which were mainly used for religious reasons, the use of instruments like the conga or timbal were introduced for Salsa records. This is obvious when in some famous records, Santería is heavily implied and mentioned such as the song by Hector Lavoe: “Rompe Saraguey” which is the name of a plant used commonly for Santeria (Hector Lavoe - Rompe Saraguey).

Other sources claim that slavery in Caribbean countries was different from America. Apparently, they allowed enslaved people to gather and maintain their culture by doing events called “Cabildos” and thus facilitated the evident exchange of culture: “While the American enslaver worked feverishly to destroy any vestige of African culture, the Spanish enslaver of Cuba felt that it was in his best interest to allow the enslaved African to maintain his culture. In support of that, the Spanish allowed the Africans to organize Cabildos (or social groups) based on their nation of origin. Thus, you had the Abakua (or Ekpe) from the nations known as Nigeria and Cameroon, the Madinga (or Malinke) from Sierre Leone, etc.” (mauludSADIQ) After the colonial era, it was a common sign of “blackness” and “ignorance” to play percussion instruments and, in presentations, the black percussionists were hidden from the public. Although they were free men, they still had to face systematic oppression, and this racism and oppression delayed the development of Afro-Cuban sounds, more specifically Afro-Cuban Jazz in places where the Latin Diaspora was already powerful, such as New York (Boggs).

The long-lasting influence of these cultures can be perceived in Classic Salsa titles such as “Che Che Colé” by Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe, which is an adaptation of a traditional Ghanaian children’s song and pays homage to the African heritage by integrating Ghanaian words, melodies, and rhythms into the Salsa framework (Drumming Workshop for Kids) and “Quimbara” by Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco which is an African onomatopoeia for enjoyment and dance.

The oppression Afro-Caribbean musicians faced slowly shifted following the collaboration of several black percussionists in American Jazz, which slowly paved the way for Afro-Caribbean Jazz black percussionists. The shift and perspective of percussionists was so significant that later, some Salsa exponents faced some prejudices for being white and or not Latin from Afro-Caribbean artists. The most famous case is Larry Harlow “El judío Maravilloso”, a white Jewish American moved by Afro-Caribbean music who dedicated his life to this kind of music, even going to Cuba to study this music in depth (“The wonderful Jew”). There is evidence that some of his bandmates didn’t approve of him; they questioned if a white musician could really have “The Flavour” but they later accepted him after witnessing his talent and his efforts to blend himself with the culture behind Salsa. He started by composing in English and using translators. Later, he learned Spanish, and also became a practitioner of Santería, which marks an exceptional syncretism on his part because he never stopped practicing Judaism, and his identity was shaped by religions and cultures that were so different, even paradoxical in some aspects. However, he still managed to earn respect from his Afro-Caribbean and Latin bandmates (Univision). Salsa has seen several influences and their evolution over time, and this syncretism is just an example of the variety of mixtures that can be found in the musical movement.

Predecessors of Salsa and Different Styles:

Puerto Rican Influence

Two of the most important musical genres that Puerto Rico brought to Salsa are Bomba and Plena. They are commonly mentioned together, although they have key differences. Bomba is the oldest music genre that has been in Puerto Rico, and has direct roots to African ascendents. “Nació en la isla después de que los africanos fueran traídos y esclavizados en Puerto Rico. Siguiendo sus tradiciones ancestrales, los esclavos utilizaban los tambores para expresar su dolor, luchas y alegrías, así como los eventos del día a día.” (“Born on the island after Africans were brought and enslaved in Puerto Rico. Following their ancestral traditions, slaves used the drums to express their pain, struggles and joys, as well as the events of everyday life.”) (prismusic) Bomba events are still celebrated to this day in some Municipalities of Puerto Rico, in areas where slaves worked were sugar mills, as they used to practice Bomba in their spare time. There is now a strong Bomba presence in municipalities such as: Mayagüez, Ponce, Dorado, Guayama, Arroyo, Cataño and San Juan. Bomba also has the characteristic of showing a direct communication and interaction between the percussionist and the dancer; it almost seems like a conversation between them. Bomba has been practiced since the colonial era, yet Plena rose until the 20th Century, and its origins are similar to the ones from Bomba but in a different historical context. Plena is a musical movement that started in the streets of Puerto Rico and is a protest music genre, the working class practiced Plena as protest music to get better working conditions. In general, Plena is also known for having narrative lyrics, often performed by improvisation and describe everyday life, and it is because of this that Plena is said to be “sung newspaper” because of this. Puerto Rico has several Salsa artists that had an impact on the popularization of Salsa and the expansion of the empire of Fania Records. Hector Lavoe “El Cantante de los Cantantes” (“Singer of the Singers”), Willie Colón “El Malo” (“The bad one”), and Ismael Rivera “El Sonero mayor” (“The older Sonero”) among others, have impressive career with powerful stories, that is why Puerto Rico is considered one of the most important countries for Salsa.

Colombian Influence:

Colombia is one of the countries where Salsa is more celebrated. Cali, a city in southwest Colombia, is famously known as the capital of Salsa, for example. There are several music styles that Colombia contributed to the creation of Salsa. Cumbia, another famous music genre, is one of the contributions that Colombia brought to Salsa, which has also its origins in the colonial era, and its main components are percussion instruments (Los bailes y ritmos preferidos por los colombianos - Aventure Colombia). Another musical style, known as “the biggest manifestation of Colombian music from the Andean zone” is the Bambuco. This musical style is usually performed by duets that use instruments such as the guitar, el triple and sometimes the flute.(Hernández et al.) Another important musical style is Vallenato, which is usally performed of the accordion, la caja and the guacharaca.(Los bailes y ritmos preferidos por los colombianos - Aventure Colombia)

Cuban Influence:

Cuba is arguably one of the countries that most influenced to Salsa as we know it. Son Cubano, a musical style that originated in the 19th century in Santiago, the Sierra Maestra mountain range, and Guantánamo, is associated to Changüí parties which are popular reunions in communities and rural areas where most of the attendants dance, sing, and improvise to the music. Common instruments in Son Cubano are the Tres, Bongó, Maracas and guïra. One of the most people that made Son Cubano popular is Ignacio Piñeiro, who founded the Septeto Nacional and made the “Echale Salsita” track. He famously said this about Son Cubano: “El Son es lo más sublime para el alma divertir. Se debería de morir, quien por bueno no lo estime” (“Son is the most sublime thing for the soul to have fun. He should die, who for goodness does not esteem it”) (Gandía). Cuba also introduced other styles such as Mambo, Guaracha, Cha-ch-chá, Danzón, and Rumba which is a term used for partying and gatherings with music and celebration and with that other variations of Rumba: Guaguancó, Columbia and Yambú, all of them with similar features but notable differences in the dancing and performing, from just one dancer to two young dancers (a lead and a follower) to two older dancers. Rumba reflects all the people in society, which may be one reason it became so popular (Gandía).

The Legacy of Celia Cruz:

When we address Cuba’s impact and influence on Salsa, there is undeniably a name that stands out: Celia Cruz. While this musical movement is commonly dominated by male performers, none of them has a career as solid, long-lasting, and influential as Celia’s, making her deserving of a whole section in this essay. Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alonso was born on October 21, 1925, in Havana, Cuba. She lived with her family, including siblings, half siblings and cousins. From an early age Cruz began to sing and started participating in several singing contests, in which she won without much difficulty. She dreamed of becoming a teacher and started her education to do so. Still, she was told by her own instructors and a lot of her acquaintances that she should sing for a living, and despite her father’s opposition, she enrolled in at the National Music Conservatory and started singing professionally. In 1950, she had her big break. She started singing for an immensely popular band called “La Orquesta Sonora Matancera” and although she received several critics initially, some were linked to the fact that they preferred the earlier singer of the band, Myrta Silva. Still, most of those criticisms were related to her identity “As a dark-complexioned Afro-Cuban woman, Cruz faced multiple overlapping forms of discrimination. To build a successful career as a performer, Cruz had to overcome racialized beauty ideals that disparaged her skin color and features. Racism, sexism, and colorism in the music industry – and the culture at large – challenged Cruz throughout her life”(“Celia Cruz”). Cruz overcame those criticisms and gradually pleased the public and the people. La Sonora Matancera toured worldwide regularly and gained fame to the point that they were the most famous performers in Cuba. They once had to perform for Fidel Castro and were required to perform “Burundanga” which was Castro’s favourite song (“Así fue el día que Celia Cruz desairó a Fidel Castro y al ‘Che’ Guevara VIDEO”). However, Cruz refused to perform that specific song and didn’t pay much attention to Castro and his companions; this was enough for the Cuban authoritarian regime to exile her and her band. After a concert in Mexico, they were not allowed back on the island and had to move to the USA where they were received as refugees. After this incident, she never set foot in Cuba again, despite her several requests, and she had to endure the passing of her mother without being able to be there. When Fania rose to be a big label, she joined and started working with all the other musical advocates, shaping Salsa as we know it and adopting her iconic exclamation “¡AZUCAR!” (sugar!). Throughout her career, she has released more than 70 albums, for which she was given the undisputable title the Queen of Salsa. Celia Cruz went from an iconic Cuban figure to a Pan-Latin icon, highlighting Latinidad and blackness not only as historical attributes but as part of the present. Her performances inspired a powerful, feminist presence that remains part of her legacy (¡Azúcar!: Celia Cruz and Black Diasporic Feminist Interjection: Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies: Vol 16 , No 1 - Get Access).

In 2024, Celia Cruz was honoured by the program “American Women Quarters” by the United States Mint and she now has American quarters with her face on it with her famous catchphrase. She was chosen as a recognition of her career and her impact on the field of arts. This accomplishment made her the first Afro-Latin woman to appear in US currency and a recognition of the diversity and richness of the Latin community in the US (“American Women Quarters 2024 Rolls and Bags - Celia Cruz”).

Salsa’s Lasting Influence:

Although we are no longer living the Salsa boom of the 60s and 70s, the legacy and influence of the Salsa movement is more alive than ever. There are plenty of examples of Salsa-inspired genres; one of the most popular is reggaeton. This genre has taken several critics since its beginning; elements from Hip Hop are evident to anyone who has heard a reggaeton song. However, there are some Salsa Elements in Reggaeton, which is expected because Reggaeton is one of the most important musical genres in Puerto Rico, alongside Salsa, Bomba, and Plena. The inclusion of Salsa in reggaeton tracks or simple references doesn’t have a specific start date but, the album that changed reggaeton forever and gave the musical genre international and commercial success is “El Abayarde” by Tego Calderón, released in Puerto Rico in 2002 and internationally in 2003. The record has several Salsa references in its lyrics as well as tracks that allude to Bomba in municipalities like Loiza. The album also has the track “Dominicana” which is a reinterpretation of the famous song by EL Gran Combo de Puerto Rico “Ojitos Chinos”. The album finishes with “Plante Bandera” which is a direct sample of the track (or it can be considered a cover” by Tommy Oliviencia y su Orquesta which is a celebrated Salsa Classic. Another more far-fetched example is that it has something similar to the call and response “pregones” can be heard in “La Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee which is the most famous example of reggaeton song that has reached worldwide fame. But there are whole albums with reggaeton artists and Salsa stars such as Andy Montañez and Gilberto Santarrosa or newer generations of Salsa performers like Victor Manuelle, Jerry Rivera, and Marc Anthony. In 2006 the Album “Los Cocoroco” was released and had the unexpected crossover of classic Salsa Artists with reggaeton star like Tego Calderón himself and Don Omar (Gandía). This influence of Salsa in urban popular music has given Salsa a long lasting relevance. For example, Bad Bunny and Rauw Alejandro have recently released, “Cosa Nuestra” in 2024, named after the album by Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe from 1970 and it contains samples of the songs “Que lío” and a cover of the Salsa Classic “Tú con él” by Frankie Ruiz. Bad Bunny made an even more powerful album Called “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” (I Should Have Taken More Photos); shortened to DTmF released in January of 2025 which has several samples of Salsa music like “Un Verano en Nueva York” by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico and new original Salsa tracks like “Baile Inolvidable” a track that reached #1 chart in several countries including Canada.

To conclude, Salsa is the blend of several musical styles, stories, and experiences that reflect stories of perseverance, power, and resistance such as the ones that the slaves had to endure in the colonial era or more personal ones like Celia Cruz’s story. Salsa is a form of expression of all these characteristics but also joy and Pan-identity. Salsa will always be crucial for Latin communities’ art and expression because it’s defined as a blend of them all.

Works Cited

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