Fania All Stars ft Oscar D'Leon, Milly Quezada, El Canario and others - Quitate Tu (Yo Soy La Salsa)

Who is the number-one salsa artist?

Celia Cruz, the Queen of Salsa, is the consensus answer across the Caribbean and the diaspora. Héctor Lavoe, Willie Colón, and the Fania All-Stars sit right beside her in the New York salsa canon that defined the genre worldwide.

Where did salsa come from?

Salsa crystallized in New York in the 1960s-70s as Cuban son, mambo, and Puerto Rican traditions met big-band brass and street dancefloor energy. Labels like Fania Records turned that sound into a global movement.

How is salsa different from merengue?

Salsa is built on a clave-driven Cuban/Puerto Rican foundation with complex syncopation; merengue is the Dominican two-step: faster, straighter, accordion- and brass-forward. Both are Latin dancefloor pillars, but they move the body differently.