Manolín is one of the most controversial figures in Cuban music. He has, despite his unskilled voice, managed to be very successful both in Cuba and internationally because of his talent of writing street poetry mirroring the conditions in Cuba and reaching out a hand to the cubans in Miami.

The nickname “The salsa doctor” was given to him by José Luis Cortés, the leader of NG la Banda, where Manolín was a guest singer in the beginning of the 90’s after having studied to be a doctor. His first record, Una aventura loca, was sold out within a year and had to be released in a new edition. He toured for the first time in Colombia in 1995 and the same year he also recorded his second record, Para mi gente, and was elected the artist of the year.

In the end of the 90’s his concerts sold out in Havana and he released the records Salsa de buena fé (97) and Jaque mate (98). Manolín also wrote songs for a number of known salsa groups, such as La Charanga Habanera, NG la Banda and Bamboleo. He spent some time in Miami, but returned to Havana where he, after having claimed all Cuban people united, had problems producing his next record. In the end he moved to Miami where he recorded the double CD El puente during 2002 and where he still lives and works as a musician. However, it has been a long time since he came up with any new material and many people consider him having degraded since he left Cuba.

The information about Manolín was found at www.timba.com (English) and www.ejn.it (Spanish), where you also can read more about him.