Rubén Blades

In Blades's early days, he was a vocalist in Los Salvajes del Ritmo,[1] and also a songwriter and guest singer with a professional Latin music conjunto (ensemble), Bush y sus Magníficos. His strongest influence of the day was the Joe Cuba sextet and Cheo Feliciano, whose singing style he copied to the point of imitating his voice tone and vocal range.^[9]

Career

1970s–1980s

Blades earned multiple degrees in political science and law at the Universidad Nacional de Panamá and performed legal work at the Bank of Panama as a law student. After graduating in 1974, he moved to the United States and stayed with his exiled parents in Miami, Florida, before moving to New York City. Andy Harlow said that "he used to sleep on my couch while he worked at Fania (Records)."^{[citation needed]}

Blades' first recording in the US was the solo album De Panamá a New York, with the Pete Rodriguez Orchestra,^[1] which included original compositions such as "Juan Gonzalez", "Descarga Caliente" and "De Panamá a New York", which were recorded in New York City by Alegre Records in 1970.^[10] He then returned to Panamá and finished his degree.

Blades began his career in New York City writing songs while working in the mailroom at

Blades's first notable hit was a song on the 1977 album Metiendo Mano that he had composed in 1968,^[1] "Pablo Pueblo", a meditation about a working-class father who returns to his home after a long day at work. The song later became his unofficial campaign song when he ran for president of Panama. The Colón and Blades recording on the same album of Tite Curet Alonso's composition, "Plantación Adentro", which dealt with the brutal treatment of Indian natives in Latin America's colonial times, was a hit in various Caribbean countries. He wrote and performed several songs with the Fania All Stars and as a guest on other artists' releases, including the hits "Paula C", written about a girlfriend at the time; "Juan Pachanga", about a party animal who buries his pain for a lost love in dance and drink; and "Sin Tu Cariño", a love song, featuring a bomba break. The latter two songs feature piano solos by the Puerto Rican pianist Papo Lucca.

In 1978, Blades wrote the song "

The Colón and Blades album Siembra (1978)^[1] became the best-selling salsa record in history. It has sold over 3 million copies, and almost all of its songs were hits at one time or another in various Latin American countries.^[11] Its most famous song was "Pedro Navaja", a song inspired by the 1928 song "Mack the Knife"; it tells the story of a neighborhood thug who is killed by a street walker who knows him (he stabs her, she shoots him, they both die, a bum finds them, and takes his belongings). The song inspired a 1980 Puerto Rican musical, La verdadera historia de Pedro Navaja, and a 1984 Mexican film, Pedro Navaja, neither of which had Blades' involvement. Blades wrote and sang a sequel song, "Sorpresas", (surprises) on his 1985 album, Escenas, which revealed that Pedro had survived the incident and was still alive.

Blades became dissatisfied with Fania and tried to terminate his contract, but was legally obliged to record several more albums, released after his departure.

In 1982, Blades got his first acting role, in

During the 1990s, he acted in films and continued to make records with Seis/Son del Solar. In 1990, he released the collection Poetry: the Greatest Hits that according to Q Magazine "highlighted his political commentary and pastiche approach to music".[12]

In 1994, he mounted an unsuccessful Panamanian presidential bid, founding the party, Movimiento Papa Egoró.