Artists and bandsRubén Blades
Panama City-born singer and songwriter; Fania’s biography follows his move to New York.
A Panama voice tells a New York story
Before Rubén Blades became known for a street story set in New York, he grew up in Panama City, studied at the national university and worked in the mail department at Fania Records in New York. His album with Pete Rodríguez was called De Panama a New York.
In 1978 Blades and Willie Colón released Siembra. Blades wrote “Pedro Navaja”, a story of a criminal and a woman he attacks; both are wounded, and the ending brings an unexpected passer-by into the scene. The song’s setting is New York, not Panama City, but its author’s journey connects the record to the Panamanian capital.
Colón produced the album, while Blades sang and wrote the story. Their collaboration gave a single song room to unfold like a short narrative rather than a brief account of a romance. For a listener starting in Panama City, it is a route from the singer’s birthplace to the city where this particular story takes place.
Songs