McDonald's bows to the Boogaloo of Willie Rosario and Bobby V.

If you're passionate about tropical music — the kind who digs through old vinyl credits — you'll love this untold story. Today we revisit one of the best collaborations of the golden era of boogaloo.

If you're passionate about tropical music — the kind who digs through old vinyl credits — you'll love this untold story. Today we revisit one of the best collaborations of the golden era of boogaloo: the encounter between Willie Rosario and Bobby Valentín.

Boogaloo was a musical phenomenon that emerged in the mid-1960s in New York, fusing African American rhythm and blues with Afro-Cuban rhythms. It was the music of second-generation Latino youth who wanted their own sound, different from that of their parents.

Willie Rosario and Bobby Valentín were two of the architects of that sound. Rosario, with his powerful orchestra and impeccable sense of rhythm, and Valentín, with his revolutionary electric bass and innovative musical vision, created together moments that were etched in the history of Latin music.

What few people know is that McDonald's, in its expansion into the Hispanic market of New York in the 1970s, used fragments of their recordings in advertising campaigns aimed at the Latin community. It was an implicit recognition of the cultural power of boogaloo and these two artists.

Today, decades later, the legacy of Willie Rosario and Bobby Valentín lives on. Their recordings are essential references for any salsa musician, and their influence can be heard in the productions of new generations of tropical musicians.