Compared to its size, Cuba has played a disproportionate role in influencing music around the world, with its unique blend of cultures and rhythms as a result of its colonial and then revolutionary history. The recognition of the influence of african music on Cuban music was long whitewashed by scholars and musicologists. Either wrongly attributed to Spanish influence, itself heavily influenced by African culture since the 15th century, or dismissed by attesting that the European influence was needed to make black music paletable and successful. Despite this, afro-cuban music grew into an unstoppable global force, which still exerts it’s influence today. Notable genres include mambo, rhumba, chachacha, afro Cuban jazz, son Cubano, guajira, Pachanga, Mozambique, bolero, Timba, Songo etc. Some of these are the roots of what would commercially become known as “Salsa”.