# Rubén Blades — Pedro Navaja

Rubén Blades’s Pedro Navaja (1978) is No. 1 in our Salsa ranking. The full verdict, and where to hear it.

- **Released:** 1978
- **Label:** Fania
- **On one list:** Salsa
- **Updated:** 2026-08-30
- **Artist:** [Rubén Blades](https://waxonia.com/artist/ruben-blades/)
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/ruben-blades--pedro-navaja/

## What we say

### No. 1 in [Salsa](https://waxonia.com/genre/salsa/)

Seven minutes of narrative about a mugging that goes wrong both ways. Blades wrote salsa's great short story, and the band never lets the tension drop.

## Analysis

11 sections, the first drop of 4 at 1:14, 17% of the way in, 38% of it spent climbing.

- **Tempo:** 258.4 BPM — the pulse reads at half this too — counted the way the genre counts it
- **Dynamic range:** 9 dB — moderate range, typical of a modern master
- **Length:** 7:22

- `0:00` A · **intro**, instrumental — opens the record below its own average energy — playing: drums, bass, other
- `0:17` B · **breakdown** (bar 9), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning
- `0:53` C · **build** (bar 29), sung — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: vocals
- `1:15` D · **build** (bar 41), sung — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, bass, vocals
- `1:36` E · **build** (bar 52), sung — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `3:41` E · **steady** (bar 119), sung — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `4:19` E · **steady** (bar 140), sung — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `4:53` F · **peak** (bar 158), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `5:24` E · **steady** (bar 175), sung — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `6:04` F · **peak** (bar 196), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `6:29` E · **outro** (bar 210), sung — the closing fall — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other

**Drops** at 1:14 (bar 40), 1:58 (bar 64), 3:41 (bar 120), 6:39 (bar 215). A drop is a moment, not a stretch.

**What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.

- **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix
- **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix
- **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix
- **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings

Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy
moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted
rather than hedged.

## Listen

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Rub%C3%A9n%20Blades%20Pedro%20Navaja) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=xe4jSbcKiUQ)

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Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.