Classic Fania

From Cheo Feliciano's rageful "Anacaona" and Rubén Blades' existentialist epic "Pedro Navaja" to Ray Barretto's explosive "Indestructible" and Héctor Lavoé's mystically tinged "El Todopoderoso," these songs illustrate the coming of age of Afro-Caribbean music as a genre with the power to make you dance and think at the same time.

Roberto Roena's "Que Se Sepa" and Tito Puente's "Black Brothers" explore the intriguing fusion of Afro-Cuban idioms with the gritty vibe of American funk. On both "La Tirana" and "A La Orilla Del Mar," La Lupe proved that she possessed one of the most stunning voices in the entire spectrum of tropical music.

Fania pioneered urban salsa, but it also experimented with other formats, from the psychedelic boogaloo (Pete Rodríguez's "I Like It Like That") to traditional Cuban charanga (Típica 73's take on the classic "Cachita."). We end with a smoldering live version of "Anacaona," from a historic recording with the Fania All Stars.

Few record labels in the history of popular music can claim to have defined an entire genre. Fania was one of them. Founded in 1964 by Dominican bandleader Johnny Pacheco and attorney Jerry Masucci, the company was at the epicenter of the New York salsa explosion in the '70s. Its legendary catalog of over 1,000 albums includes seminal recordings by Héctor Lavoé, Rubén Blades, Willie Colón, Ray Barretto, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, and Celia Cruz.