Cafecito y Salsa

Let’s face it: There are a few things that you can expect in every Latinx home on weekends. A pot of something bubbling away on the stove. The smell of strong coffee mixing with the perfume of that bottle of purple Fabuloso multi-purpose cleaner we all know too well and the queen of salsa playing like a bugle call for everyone in the house (and neighborhood for that matter) to wake up and get ready for a day full of dancing, cleaning, and eating. Even today, the first few seconds of Muñeca del Cha Cha Cha takes me back to my childhood games that my mother later confessed were ploys to get us to help clean the house.

While 2020 probably hasn’t been what any of us had expected, this is still one of the undeniable traditions that have continued through this pandemic. If anything, we are spending more time with this than we are used to. When planning our New Year resolutions, I’m sure most of you, like me, set a goal to be more organized — both personally and in the home. The music gods must have heard our cry because the release of a remastered classic came just in time. Celia Cruz’s Anthology of Salsa.

For those of you who don’t know, Celia Cruz is the proclaimed Queen of Salsa. Her catalog of hits spans from 1950 through today, with music being released since her passing in 2003. Starting in the nightclubs in Havana, she always knew how to start a party with her music. Britannica says it best:

“With a voice described as operatic, Cruz moved through high and low pitches with an ease that belied her age, and her style of improvising rhymed lyrics added a distinctive flavor to salsa. Her flamboyant costumes, which included varicolored wigs, tight sequined dresses, and outlandishly high heels, became so famous that one of them was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution.”

She is every Spanish speaking family’s cool auntie. Her voice and big personality are as familiar as any other family member’s. Many of us who grew up on her music have shared memories of dancing along to her music before we could walk. Many of our first words were her famous call for “Azucar!,” and waking up to the call gives an almost Pavlovian response to get up and move. This is everything that we need this summer — to wake up with a smile on our face, brew a cup of cafecito, and start the day with a cha-cha.

With the queen of salsa, it’s hard to choose just one song to be an anthem. The entire anthology seems to bleed together into one long, continuous medley of nostalgic tunes that will have you swaying and moving your hip along while stirring or sweeping. Even if you’re not familiar with the language, her music takes you to a tropical getaway that we all could use right now. When the chores are done, the album can keep going as you sit back and enjoy an afternoon pick me up and relax.

A good summer anthem has to make you want to get up and dance in any situation. It shouldn’t matter how you feel at the time, hearing it should put a smile on your face and provide just the right distraction from what’s going. Even though this anthology is decades old, some things, like this, are timeless. I dare you to play one of her songs and not let out a sigh of relief as your hips start to move. This is what makes a true summer anthem.