How did the feud between Willie Colón and Rubén Blades arise?

They are cataloged as the duo that elevated salsa.

The death of Willie Colón this Saturday in New York, at the age of 75, reopens one of the most influential chapters of Latin American music: his alliance with Panamanian Rubén Blades redefined salsa in the seventies and decades later led to a legal dispute. In the mid-1970s, Willie Colón created the melodies of salsa and Panamanian Rubén Blades wrote the lyrics, together driving a new aesthetic that turned the genre into a social chronicle of Latin America and the Caribbean. The relationship between both salsa artists was forged mainly under Fania Records, the record label founded in New York by Dominican Johnny Pacheco and American businessman Jerry Masucci in 1964, producing great Latin American musicians based in the United States. But the beginnings of Colón and Blades date back to 1975 with the song 'El Cazanguero' and to 1977 with their first album together 'Metiendo Mano!', which includes the song 'Pablo Pueblo', a story about the hard life of a worker, hit by poverty, which gave way to the "salsa with social conscience" movement.

"(The duo was fundamental), the proof is what they recorded. Above all, the LP 'Siembra', where that concept of lyrics that speak of the reality of a continent of struggle, resistance and flags is reflected," explained to EFE the musical researcher, writer and Panamanian music lover, Mario García Hudson.

By 1978, the duo created their most successful album 'Siembra' with well-known works such as 'Pedro Navaja' and 'Plástico'; and in 1980 'Maestra vida', a salsa opera that narrates the society of the Latin American working class through the lives of the characters Carmelo da Silva and Manuela Pérez in a working-class neighborhood.

How did the feud between them begin? The legal dispute after a concert in San Juan

The salsa musicians ended up in an enmity that lasted more than 20 years. The conflict between Blades and Colón occurred in 2003, when after meeting at a concert at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium, in San Juan, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ‘Siembra’, Colón accused Blades of not paying him the agreed sum of money. Blades indicated that for the event, produced by Puerto Ricans Ariel Rivas and César Sainz, he would charge $350,000 and that, after paying for hotel expenses, musicians, and airfare, among others, he would split the remainder equally with Colón.

You can also read: After years of not speaking, Willie Colón congratulates Rubén Blades for distinction at the Grammy | De Último Minuto | Dominican Republic News

However, the lawyer by profession and former Minister of Tourism of Panama assured that he only received 68,000 dollars, and Colón sued him in May 2007 alleging that he owed him 115,000 dollars for the concert fees. Finally, in 2013, a judge from a Puerto Rican court ruled in favor of Blades, finding that the concert promoter did indeed receive the artists' money and used it to pay off the company's debts without permission. They also performed on several occasions in Puerto Rico, but separately. In the last performance in Panama last year during the Premios Juventud, Colón performed 'La murga de Panamá', composed by him and Lavoe in 1970.

Despite that distance, the Panamanian singer dedicated a few words to his colleague on social media today, promising to expand on them later: "I have just confirmed what I was reluctant to believe: Willie Colón has indeed passed away. To his wife Julia, his children, family and loved ones, I send my deepest condolences."