GLOBAL STYLE

Latin drum patterns.

Grooves built around the clave, with percussion and bass locked to the tumbao, across salsa, cumbia and bachata.

77 grooves
1950–2025
5 landmarks

The Latin timeline

20 of 20 grooves

1950
Landmark
Mambo No. 5 Open Mambo No. 5 in a new tab
Pérez Prado
Big-band mambo: punchy brass stabs over Cuban percussion; recorded in 1949 and released the next year
1962
Landmark
Oye Como Va Open Oye Como Va in a new tab
Tito Puente
Cha-cha-chá driven by Puente's timbales and a looping piano montuno; the original that Santana later rocked up
1966
Bang Bang Open Bang Bang in a new tab
Joe Cuba Sextet
Boogaloo hit (Hot 100 No. 63): conga and timbales under a party-chant R&B backbeat
1967
I Like It Like That Open I Like It Like That in a new tab
Pete Rodríguez
Boogaloo landmark mixing Latin percussion with a soul backbeat; later sampled for Cardi B's I Like It
1969
Ché Ché Colé Open Ché Ché Colé in a new tab
Willie Colón & Héctor Lavoe
Trombone-led New York salsa from Cosa Nuestra, the duo's first gold album
1970
Colombia Tierra Querida Open Colombia Tierra Querida in a new tab
Lucho Bermúdez
Big-band Colombian cumbia from the bandleader who brought coastal rhythms into the ballroom
1970
Oye Como Va Open Oye Como Va in a new tab
Santana
Abraxas cover of Puente's tune: rock kit plus timbales and congas; Hot 100 No. 13 as a 1971 single
1974
Landmark
Quimbara Open Quimbara in a new tab
Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco
Salsa standard from Celia & Johnny (National Recording Registry); clave-driven congas and timbales behind Celia
1978
Pedro Navaja Open Pedro Navaja in a new tab
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
Story-salsa centrepiece of Siembra; New York salsa at its late-70s peak
1984
Cali Pachanguero Open Cali Pachanguero in a new tab
Grupo Niche
Colombian salsa anthem from No Hay Quinto Malo; Cali's fast, bright dance-salsa style
1985
Conga Open Conga in a new tab
Miami Sound Machine
Written by the band's drummer Enrique Garcia; conga-line percussion turned into US dance-pop
1990
Bachata Rosa Open Bachata Rosa in a new tab
Juan Luis Guerra 4.40
Title track of the album that took bachata mainstream: bongo and güira under a romantic guitar
1990
La Bilirrubina Open La Bilirrubina in a new tab
Juan Luis Guerra 4.40
Merengue signature: tambora and güira at full speed, polished for a pan-Latin audience
1992
Landmark
Como la Flor Open Como la Flor in a new tab
Selena y Los Dinos
Tejano cumbia standard: the loping cumbia pulse carried into US Latin pop
1998
Suavemente Open Suavemente in a new tab
Elvis Crespo
Six weeks at No. 1 on Hot Latin Tracks; fast, horn-driven merengue at its commercial peak
2002
Landmark
Obsesión Open Obsesión in a new tab
Aventura
Modern bachata with R&B polish; seven weeks at No. 1 in France and the record that took bachata international
2013
Vivir Mi Vida Open Vivir Mi Vida in a new tab
Marc Anthony
Salsa adaptation of Khaled's C'est la vie; full timbales-and-conga salsa back on global charts
2017
Bum Bum Tam Tam Open Bum Bum Tam Tam in a new tab
MC Fioti
Funk carioca hit sampling a Bach flute partita over a sparse baile-funk beat
2023
Un x100to Open Un x100to in a new tab
Grupo Frontera & Bad Bunny
Norteño-cumbia crossover; a regional Mexican rhythm section in the global streaming era
2025
Baile Inolvidable Open Baile Inolvidable in a new tab
Bad Bunny
Salsa from Debí Tirar Más Fotos; a reggaeton star returning to timbales, congas and live horns