What Is Salsa Music?
So somebody put on a salsa track at a party and you caught yourself moving without even thinking about it. Now you want to know... what is salsa music, really? Where did it come from? And why does everybody seem to argue about what counts as salsa and what doesn't?
Here's the short answer: salsa is not a single genre. It's an umbrella term that covers a whole family of Afro-Cuban and Caribbean music styles that evolved over more than a century. Some were born in the countryside of eastern Cuba. Others came to life on the streets of New York. Some showed up in Havana in the 1990s with funk and hip hop influences nobody saw coming.
But they all share one thing: the clave. That rhythmic heartbeat that holds the whole thing together. To really understand what salsa music is, you have to follow the timeline, from son cubano and guaracha through mambo, boogaloo, Fania Records, salsa romántica, and timba.
Continue Reading →