SALSA ROMANTICA

Salsa Romantica is a soft form of salsa music that emerged between the mid-1980s and early 1990s in New York City and Puerto Rico. It has been the most commercially successful form of salsa in the last 20 years, despite criticism that it is a pale imitation of "real" salsa, often called "salsa dura."
Salsa Romantica is a slower, lighter sounding type of salsa music that La Palabra, a Cuban musician, introduced in the mid-1980s. Salsa romántica arose at a time when classic, big-band salsa, popularized by Fania Records was taking an astounding measure on the Latin record charts, owing to the merengue boom and the rise of Latin pop. Salsa romantica is distinct from other salsa music styles because it uses a softer/quieter sounding orchestral sounds, ballads set to a slowed down salsa rhythm, and romantic lyrics (1). Because of the softer orchestra and leisurely rhythm, some have nicknamed this genre "limp salsa" (2). It has been the most commercially successful form of salsa in the last 20 years in Latin American countries, and is most popularly played in fancier dance clubs as well as radio stations (3). The best known early salsa romantica artists include: Eddie Santiago, Frankie Ruiz, Lalo Rodríguez and Luis Enrique. More famous modern artists are Gilberto Santa Rosa, Marc Anthony, La India and Tito Nieves.