The creator of the concept known in Spanish as salsa focila – which means “the folklore of Latin cities” - Panamanian singer/songwriter Rubén Blades will always be remembered as the vocalist who made salsa fans all over the world think.

From his very beginnings in the Panamanian music scene with Bush y Los Magníficos, the group of Papi Arosemena and Los Salvajes del Ritmo, the young singer and guitarist found his own artistic identity in the observation and analysis of the human dramas that are part of the social and urban life in the Latin barrios.

A fan of The Beatles and Ismael Rivera, Blades was first influenced by his own mother, pianist Anoland Bellido de Luna. His debut album was De Panamá a Nueva York, released in 1970 with the orchestra of Puerto Rican piano player Pete Rodríguez. It revealed Blades’ sociological tendencies – echoing the worldwide impact of the assasination in 1969 of Argentine guerrilla fighter Ernesto “Che” Guevara with an implicit reference on the track “Juan González.”

Born on July 16, 1948, Blades returned to Panama in order to finish his law degree, then went back to the Big Apple in 1974. Ironically, he found employment in the mail room of Fania Records.

It was his destiny to change salsa forever. Slowly, his compositions reached the hands of Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz, Conjunto Candela, Roberto Roena’s Apollo Sound, Ismael Miranda, Pete “Conde” Rodríguez, Bobby Rodríguez’s La Compañía, Tito Puente and Cheo Feliciano. He was also the backup singer on dozens of recordings. In 1975, he presented the song “El Casanguero” to Willie Colón for the album The Good, The Bad & The Ugly – the same year that Ray Barretto enlisted him as lead singer with his orchestra, together with Tito Gómez.

Blades offered Barretto songs such as “Pablo Pueblo,” which the King of the Hard Hands refused to record. Fortunately, Blades realized that Willie Colón shared his interest in social issues. His songs took flight through his partnership with the trombonist and producer.

This compilation showcases the content, substance and depth that Rubén Blades brought to salsa. His compositions transcend the specific time frame of their creation, because there are people today in the Latin barrios who still identify with his characters. Who hasn’t met a girl who lives based on appearances and dreams only of money? Or a criminal who awaits his next victim in the darkness of an alley?

The same applies to the man who pretends to be happy while dying of grief on the inside; the threat of imperial- ism and the oppression of the poor by the rich; the factory worker whose salary is not enough to support his children; the tragic love affair that makes the heart bleed with every new goodbye; and the high society girl who rebels against the prejudice and racism of her own parents.

These are the stories of “Plástico,” “Pedro Navaja,” “Juan Pachanga,” “Tiburón,” “Pablo Pueblo,” “Paula C” and “Ligia Elena,” which, recorded with Willie Colón, the Fania All Stars and Louie Ramírez, turned Rubén Blades into a legend – the most eloquent voice in the Latin city.