What would it take for salsa to have a revival?
- Thread starter rheemixed
- Start date
It's really interesting seeing the Salsa world react to this superbowl event.
Admittedly I haven't watched and don't feel like I need to.
I'm just not understanding why everyone is going ape$hit over this. It's commercial Salsa. How is it special?
Is it because it's the superbowl and it's getting worldwide coverage? Do people really believe it will lead to some kind of Salsa revival? Do we really need one?
From a Salsa standpoint, I don't see how this is any bigger than watching Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin or Enrique Iglesias, et al. in concert during their heyday. Or on the Internet, racking up billions of views combined with their Salsa.
Admittedly I haven't watched and don't feel like I need to.
I'm just not understanding why everyone is going ape$hit over this. It's commercial Salsa. How is it special?
Is it because it's the superbowl and it's getting worldwide coverage? Do people really believe it will lead to some kind of Salsa revival? Do we really need one?
From a Salsa standpoint, I don't see how this is any bigger than watching Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin or Enrique Iglesias, et al. in concert during their heyday. Or on the Internet, racking up billions of views combined with their Salsa.
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It's kinda interesting that the people I see pushing the Superbowl Salsa angle the most in my instagram feed are the Korean salseros I follow, more than the American or European ones.
In any case, I do think this will have an effect on the salsa scene in the US. Baile Inolvidable alone being released last year was huge for my local scene - a ton of new younger dancers in the scene as a direct result of it. I think it literally dropped the average age of my social scene down by 10 years. Lady Gaga singing a salsa version of her pop song I'm sure will have some effect too.
The Superbowl is a big event in mainstream US culture. Even people who don't like football watch it, so it is much more mainstream than say a Marc Anthony concert, even though he is a huge artist in his own right.
If I'm being honest, I don't really love Baile Inolvidable, nor Gaga's Salsa Die w/ a Smile as salsa songs, but I can't hate what salsa going more mainstream has done for the scene. Perhaps its fair to question if all growth in the scene is good growth. But for me I'm just glad to see packed socials and a newer generation of people entering the scene. Many will wash out eventually I'm sure, but some will stick with it long term - I see a lot of studios in my area doing really well these days, including the more advanced ones.
Jaime_Pipoca
Changui
I'm not the media, but in regards to the music, I didn't like it. I also don't like reggaeton.
I didn't like Lady Gaga as a singer, it also sounded more like a swing/jazz rendition. What I hear her singing like on top of the rhythms (salsa swing) and I'm like, ehhhhhh. No. Plus, it sounded boring.
Ricky Martin singing was fine. I wasn't even sure who it was until my friends pointed it out. lol.
Yeah I don't think Gaga's voice works great for salsa. And the song was pretty much like you said - just a pop song w/ salsa instrumentation, so I didn't really love the song. Nothing about it hooked me musically. But hey, if it gets more people interested in salsa, I'm all for it!
Ricky sounded pretty out of tune, but I assume its really hard to hear yourself sing in a stadium with 70k people screaming and probably terrible acoustics echoing everywhere even with an earpiece.
Can you really trace it down so precisely, did you verify by talking to them? I have a hard time believing one song causes people to run into a dance school. Here in middle europe Bad Bunny was still widely unknown last year as far as I googled. Many articles had titles last year like "The unknown super star". I suppose his success was within the 8 percent of world population who speak spanish. Now the super bowl headlines made him more known amongst non-spanish speakers.
I did beginner classes last year (as follower), but I didn't do them the year before so I can't say if there was a difference in numbers. Also on the dance floors I can't say if I there is a difference in numbers in the beginners corner. Mambo festivals also don't draw beginners, so I have no data.
I did see last year that salsa / bachata / WCS beginner classes all were crowded, I guess partner dance is getting more attractive to escape online addiction and meet some real people. I read everywhere that nightclubbing has died, clubs close down even in Berlin, club prices skyrocketed the last years and people don't dare to dance anymore out of fear to get filmed and published, instead of dancing they just stand there and film the DJ if he's famous. So partner-dance might get new attraction as a solution.
What's not to believe? I (not an American) don't like kid rock, but I dislike bad bunny more.
He can't sing. He can barely even talk.
I certainly would not like him to become a (even temporary) face of salsa.
Groove On
Son
For me, the half-time show highlighted the general en-shittification of the World. My BIG question is why the previous 2020 Superbowl half-time show had the exact same elements (Lots of USA Latino Culture, Tons of Reggaeton and even performances by Bad Bunny) - but that Show was SO MUCH BETTER (like a 1000 times better).
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Yogalholic
Changui
In my opinion this bad bunny show will follow the Amara law: we overestimate it's short term effects but underestimate it's long term effects
Groove On
Son
I have 6 messages in my DMs asking me to play the Gaga/Bruno Mars salsa song at this Saturday's social. Crazy thing - the cover I want to play, feels like it was produced by AI. I swear this timeline is so weird already, every day, all day.
If it is AI, it sounds like they trained it on Lucy Grau's english covers.
I'm telling y'all! Like or dislike the music (again I'm not a huge fan of it myself personally), it is something big for the scene!
I haven't gone dancing since the Super Bowl, but a lot of the social media stories I've seen from events since then have looked even more packed than before! Maybe just a random coincidence. But I think not personally. Bad Bunny is huge among the gen z Latino community in the US (Puerto Rican especially). Gaga is a huge mainstream artist too obviously.
Love or hate the new music, it's still a good thing to see the scene growing. There were times in years past when I wondered if the scene would die out over the course of the next 10 years, and I'd have to find a new hobby - it's part of the reason why I started this thread. But the trajectory of the scene has changed dramatically in the past year IMO. Sure, obviously almost all of the growth of the scene is from complete newbies, rather than long term dancers re-entering the scene, but give this generation a couple years, I'm pretty optimistic about the outlook.
TurqoiseHexagon
Changui
There's been a remixed version out for the last couple of years. I've played it once or twice. I do wonder how the response will be playing it now.
matty
Son Montuno
Well, Baile Inolvidable is back at the top of the Spotify charts in multiple countries across the planet — including places with very little Spanish-speaking population. I mean, thats incredible.
So when people talk about a “salsa revival”, what do they actually mean by that? Because surely this HAS to be at least part of what it would look like. Perhaps it is only meaningful if there was another meaningful follow up by other artists, with other, different salsa productions that are also successful.
Honestly, I think salseros should be at least a little bit happy. I know I am. I’m genuinely very happy with the two salsa tracks he put on that album.
But I don’t necessarily see them as songs you’d drop in the middle of a dedicated salsa or bachata night — but rather as tracks that inject a bit of salsa into what would otherwise be a mostly reggaetón-focused event. And for that purpose, they work really well.
The cool thing is I can sometimes follow up with some frankie ruiz, or even an underground salsa track that has a good groove, and keep the floor going for a few minutes afterward and if there are a pack of salseros buried in the crowd somewhere they are very grateful.
i have discussed this with frends of mine who cant stand him and some argue that if you took Bunny’s rapping out, the songs would be even better. I get the point — but still I actually think he made the right choice. He stayed true to his own quirky style but let the music stay as true to itself as it could be. Thats what sets it apart from your typical manufactured salsa hit.
I don’t know exactly how involved he was in the musical arrangements — and I do sometimes wonder whether people’s opinions of him would change if they knew he was more involved than they assume. But regardless, I would say the chorus clearly has his stamp on it. He has a real talent for creating moments in songs that people genuinely want to sing along to (albeit sometimes explicit or not to everyones taste) but that is a huge part of why these songs connect the way they do.
So when people talk about a “salsa revival”, what do they actually mean by that? Because surely this HAS to be at least part of what it would look like. Perhaps it is only meaningful if there was another meaningful follow up by other artists, with other, different salsa productions that are also successful.
Honestly, I think salseros should be at least a little bit happy. I know I am. I’m genuinely very happy with the two salsa tracks he put on that album.
But I don’t necessarily see them as songs you’d drop in the middle of a dedicated salsa or bachata night — but rather as tracks that inject a bit of salsa into what would otherwise be a mostly reggaetón-focused event. And for that purpose, they work really well.
The cool thing is I can sometimes follow up with some frankie ruiz, or even an underground salsa track that has a good groove, and keep the floor going for a few minutes afterward and if there are a pack of salseros buried in the crowd somewhere they are very grateful.
i have discussed this with frends of mine who cant stand him and some argue that if you took Bunny’s rapping out, the songs would be even better. I get the point — but still I actually think he made the right choice. He stayed true to his own quirky style but let the music stay as true to itself as it could be. Thats what sets it apart from your typical manufactured salsa hit.
I don’t know exactly how involved he was in the musical arrangements — and I do sometimes wonder whether people’s opinions of him would change if they knew he was more involved than they assume. But regardless, I would say the chorus clearly has his stamp on it. He has a real talent for creating moments in songs that people genuinely want to sing along to (albeit sometimes explicit or not to everyones taste) but that is a huge part of why these songs connect the way they do.
bailar y tocar
Son Montuno
Auditioned. The guy who I know had auditioned, did get in. I had to ask him at CISC where he is in the show and he told me to look at the Lady Gaga segment stage right.
I caught a glimpse of him at 7:06 of the full show video in the Lady Gaga / Bad Bunny salsa segment. He is the fat guy with a white hat on the right side of the stage. I had to freeze frame every second or so to catch that glimpse.
His name is Andy Cruz and his stage name is Andy Lyric Cruz. He is originally from Chicago. He got his start at the Chicago Intl Salsa Congress in 2002 when he performed for the first time with a salsa group he had formed. He has since moved to LA and works in the entertainment industry there. He does a lot of choreography for films and TV.
bailar y tocar
Son Montuno
Regarding the current topic in this thread: does playing a salsa song at the Superbowl halftime show have much effect on the growth/decline/ evolution of salsa?
Hard to say but I would guess no. People who are adults and are or would be new to salsa are going to have music preferences already. If salsa is not their current preference, why would that change because of one 13 min show on tv?
As to the effect on people who already like salsa music and dance to it or for whom salsa is part of the culture? It is kind of a validation to see the music one likes, dances to, or is a part of culturally to be performed in the mainstream. It does not get more mainstream than the Superbowl. The show does not have to be good. The song does not have to be good. That is not important. What is important is that others notice that this is part of a culture not just mere entertainment.
Hard to say but I would guess no. People who are adults and are or would be new to salsa are going to have music preferences already. If salsa is not their current preference, why would that change because of one 13 min show on tv?
As to the effect on people who already like salsa music and dance to it or for whom salsa is part of the culture? It is kind of a validation to see the music one likes, dances to, or is a part of culturally to be performed in the mainstream. It does not get more mainstream than the Superbowl. The show does not have to be good. The song does not have to be good. That is not important. What is important is that others notice that this is part of a culture not just mere entertainment.
salsaholica
Changui
Salsa is a niche music genre and many people have no clue how salsa music sounds, so bringing a salsa song to a big stage will certainly have an impact.
I was an adult when I heard the first time salsa music, it was when the movie 'Buena Vista Social Club' came out. At this time I didn't even know there is a dance connected to it, although I even travelled to Cuba because the movie made me interested in seeing Cuby myself. I loved the music so much and started to listen to some other salsa artists like Celia Cruz. In the meantime I learned that there is dance called Salsa, but had no idea how it looks like. Once I saw the dance and the music I knew immediately this is what I wanted to learn. There are probably more people like me. This was all before social media, so todays young adults are probably a bit more informed. So I can indeed imagine that listening to Bad Bunny will attract more people to salsa.