Like hip-hop, salsa music emerged from New York City during the mid-to-late 1970s. However, the genre was actually popular for 30 years prior to that, just without the term salsa being applied to it. The Cuban community in the city, particularly Afro-Cubans, were mainly responsible for its popularity, with mambo bands playing regularly at venues across the city in the 1940s and 1950s.

At this time, there were strong links between the musical communities of the United States and Cuba, but the partial and then near total US embargo against Cuba, in 1960 and 1962 respectively, severed these links and prevented the evolution of music in Cuba from reaching and influencing the mainland.

Salsa in the 70s

The 70s was when the term salsa was first used, and when the style became popular across the Americas. From New York, salsa travelled quickly along the east and south coasts, before catching on in Mexico, the northernmost South American countries, and several of the Caribbean islands.

Innovation in salsa was popular throughout the 70s; Willie Colón, for example, introduced new instruments from Puerto Rico and experimented with both rock and jazz styles in his music, while native sounds from Panama and Brazil would also feature prominently.

Celia Cruz was already a massive star in Cuba and achieved the same status in the US, becoming known as ‘The Queen of Salsa’ and becoming a leading player not just in salsa, but also on the fast evolving general music scene.

The 1980s: When Salsa Goes Global

Having become popular throughout the Americas in the 70s, the 1980s saw salsa migrate to Europe, Africa, and Japan, as well as the southernmost Latin American nations. As a result, salsa started to become more diversified as various influences took hold and the genre was interpreted and developed in a variety of ways.

African and Cuban salsa would develop unique styles and become genres all on their own, although Cuban music was already popular in Africa from the mid-20^th century onwards. Elsewhere around the world, other genres to be evolving at the time, including hip-hop, R&B, and soul, would start to influence salsa as well as borrow ideas from this genre, creating blurred lines between these styles that can still be seen in some artists work today.

1990s Salsa to Today

During the late 80s, the meteoric rise of hip-hop prevented salsa from becoming a mainstream genre. In fact, salsa artists struggled for any type of publicity or success at this time, even in the Americas where it remained widely appreciated.

This changed in the mid-90s, however, when acclaimed producer and pianist Sergio George moved away from an exclusive salsa approach and began to mix salsa with popular music to create successful commercial tracks. Many of George’s ideas were seen as controversial and being ‘disloyal’ to the tradition of salsa, although many recognised them as necessary steps to raise awareness of the genre and make salsa appreciated globally once more.

Today, salsa continues to evolve, with ‘Latin house’ music being popular in Central and South America, while the leading salsa artists continue to enjoy some mainstream success across the Americas.

Image Source: klem@s