Ruben Blades

During the 1950s a man who revolutionized salsa with his incredible political conscious lyrics was born. To be more specific he was born on the 16th of July in 1948. He was born into a working family who lived in an old neighborhood in Panama. A mere boy at just four and he knew how to read and write because of his grandmother. His grandmother always stayed in his heart and was the subject to one of his future songs. Ruben Blades grandmother was an early feminist who sent only her daughters to school, she thought it was them, who would need it the most to make their way in life, more than her sons. As a result to Ruben’s grandmothers decision, his mother learned to play the piano, just this fact alone established music in Ruben’s life. Now Ruben’s father was not out of this picture at all, in fact his father was not only a musician, but he was also a jockey, basketball player, detective, and percussionist. At age six, Ruben Blades won a writing contest from his elementary sch...