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During the 1950s a man who revolutionized salsa with his incredible political conscious lyrics was born. To be more specific he was born on the 16th of July in 1948. He was born into a working family who lived in an old neighborhood in Panama. A mere boy at just four and he knew how to read and write because of his grandmother. His grandmother always stayed in his heart and was the subject to one of his future songs. Ruben Blades grandmother was an early feminist who sent only her daughters to school, she thought it was them, who would need it the most to make their way in life, more than her sons. As a result to Ruben’s grandmothers decision, his mother learned to play the piano, just this fact alone established music in Ruben’s life. Now Ruben’s father was not out of this picture at all, in fact his father was not only a musician, but he was also a jockey, basketball player, detective, and percussionist. At age six, Ruben Blades won a writing contest from his elementary school. Ever since he won that award he never stopped writing again, of course as Blades matured so did his writings and songs which intertwined with politics. During his childhood, Blades was not really aware of his families financial stability. He said, “I never realized my family was poor until I left my neighborhood.” Not only did he start thinking about his economic problems, but also the country’s political situation with the United States was also becoming more and more difficult. This effected young Rubens life, the led him to think about problems he had never even thought about before. Ruben said, “Up to 1964 I had been totally pro Yankee. In tastes, in music, in everything. But the events of January of '64, when the United States refused to raise the Panamanian flag at the Canal Zone opened my eyes and, like me, many of those who had been absolutely pro American started to ask themselves questions of a political and social nature". This situation led to what Ruben called his “Political Awakening.” After Ruben Blades political awakening, he continued with his studies and entered law school. He went to the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the University of Panama. Going to school Blades was still in tune with his passion for music, so he joined musical groups. One the first groups he joined up with was El Conjunto Latino de Papi Arozomena in 1966, then he left the group to join Los Salvajes del Ritmo in 1967 and stayed til 1969. He performed whenever the chance was open in local places. Now while he was performing and going to school, his professor’s pressured him to give up singing while going to school. Blades did indeed leave the bands, but he never gave up on his passion.
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