Cuban Timba: The Most Explosive Music Born in Havana

The genre that shook Havana’s nights

During the darkest years of Cuba’s Special Period, when the island lost its oil, its food supply, and nearly its hope, something extraordinary emerged from Havana’s neighborhoods: timba. A musical genre so explosive, so loaded with raw energy, that it turned every Havana night into a celebration of survival.

Timba is not simply “Cuban salsa.” It’s a different beast entirely: more aggressive, rhythmically complex, and street-smart. It fuses Cuban son with American funk, hip-hop, Afro-Cuban rumba, and jazz, creating a sound unlike anything else on the planet.

Origins: from songo to timba

Juan Formell and Los Van Van: the grandfathers of the sound

It all started in 1969 when bassist and composer Juan Formell founded Los Van Van. Formell was a visionary who feared nothing: he put electric violins, synthesizers, and rock drums into a Cuban charanga. The result was songo, a revolutionary rhythm that paved the way for what came next.

Los Van Van were the first to declare: “Cuban music can absorb anything from the outside and still remain Cuban.” That philosophy is timba’s DNA.

NG La Banda: the explosion

In 1988, flautist José Luis Cortés, known as “El Tosco” (The Rough One), founded NG La Banda (New Generation). With musicians from Irakere and Los Van Van, El Tosco created something unprecedented: an orchestra that played with jazz precision, funk power, and Cuban street flavor.

The album En la calle (1990) changed history. Tracks like “La expresiva” — featuring a young Issac Delgado on vocals — introduced the elements that would define timba:

• “Gears”: abrupt section changes where the band shifts from one rhythmic pattern to a completely different one
• Song-specific piano tumbaos (not generic formulas)
• The bass drum, absent in traditional salsa
• Street-level lyrics about real Cuban life, not sugar-coated romance

The golden era: the 1990s

Havana as the world’s dance capital

Between 1992 and 1997, Havana experienced an unprecedented musical fever. While the economy collapsed, dance halls exploded. The Casa de la Música, Salón Rosado de la Tropical, and the Palacio de la Salsa at Hotel Riviera became temples of timba.

Each band generated a collective mania Cubans called “la fiebre” (the fever):

• La Charanga Habanera led by David Calzado: provocative, scandalous, with choreography that caused more than one official uproar
• Manolín “El Médico de la Salsa”: clever lyrics full of double meanings and camouflaged social commentary
• Paulito FG y su Élite: romance mixed with brutal descargas (jam sessions)
• Issac Delgado: timba’s most elegant voice, capable of singing bolero and then destroying a stage with pure timba

More than music: a social phenomenon

Timba was the soundtrack of a Cuba in crisis that refused to stop dancing. The lyrics spoke of jineterismo (hustling/prostitution), the daily struggle for food, the dollar as obsession, and relationships between Cubans and tourists. It was journalism set to music, social chronicle with clave.

The Cuban government had a tense relationship with timba. In 1997, La Charanga Habanera was suspended for six months after a concert deemed “vulgar.” But banning timba was like banning breathing — people needed it.

Anatomy of timba

What makes timba different?

Element	Salsa	Timba
Bass drum	Not used	Essential
Section changes	Gradual	Abrupt (“gears”)
Piano	Standard montuno	Unique tumbaos per song
Bass	Fixed pattern	Improvised, protagonist
Lyrics	Romantic/danceable	Street-smart, social, humorous
Influences	Jazz, son	Funk, hip-hop, rumba, santería

The bass: king of timba

If in salsa the piano carries the rhythmic melody, in timba the electric bass is the protagonist. Bassists like Juan Formell, Feliciano Arango (Los Van Van), and Alain Pérez revolutionized what could be done with four strings in Latin music. Their bass lines are so complex that jazz and funk bassists worldwide study Cuban timba.

Timba today

New generation

Timba didn’t die with the Special Period. Bands like Havana D’Primera led by Alexander Abreu, Elito Revé y su Charangón, and Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor keep the flame alive. Cimafunk, while more funk-oriented, drinks directly from the timbera tradition.

Global influence

Timba has influenced musicians worldwide. In Europe, especially in cities like Barcelona, Stockholm, and London, entire communities are dedicated to casino dancing and timba. Festivals like the Timba Festival in various European cities attract thousands of dancers every year.

Five essential tracks to understand timba

1. “La expresiva” – NG La Banda (1990): timba’s Big Bang
2. “Soy todo” – Los Van Van (1997): Juan Formell at his most creative
3. “Haila” – La Charanga Habanera (1996): provocation and genius
4. “Qué manera de quererte” – Issac Delgado (1995): timbera elegance
5. “Pasaporte” – Havana D’Primera (2012): 21st-century timba

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Timba is proof that Cuban creativity knows no limits. Born in adversity, forged in Havana’s nights, this genre remains one of Cuba’s most original and powerful contributions to world music. As long as there’s a pair of congas, an electric bass, and an audience ready to sweat, timba will live on.

Interested in Cuban music? Read about Cuban son, rumba, and punto cubano.