It starts with a guitarist in a studio, laying down an infectious rhythm. Over his image appear the words: “Músicos cubanos desde differentes partes del mundo se unen en este proyecto para juntos gritar que… La Salsa es de Cuba.” ("Cuban musicians from different parts of the world join in this project to exclaim together: Salsa is from Cuba.”) A second musician picks up the rhythm with claves, and is joined by a quick succession of musicians. Like a soccer ball passed down the field, the lyrics pass from one singer to another, the melody from trumpet to standing bass, from guitar to violin to flute.

But the singers are in separate studios in Miami, Las Vegas, Havana, and Pinar del Río. The instrumental break is handled by seven musicians, six of them scattered around the island—in Havana, Manzanillo, Santa Clara, Camaguey, and Pinar del Río—including noted musician José Luis Cortés, “El Tosco,” on flute. A rap section features Tony “El Vikingo” chiming in from London, Canada, along with Pablo Raúl Correa, “El Pepillo,” in Pinar del Río; Osmani Garcia, “La Voz,” in Havana; and U4, “La Quimica Explosiva,” in Miami.

It’s a conjunto that could only exist in cyberspace: nine minutes of musical performance combined with scenes of the the island, archive footage of long-ago salseros, and comments from musicians like Enrique Álvarez, director of La Charanga Latina, and Miky Chevalier and Livan Trujillo, the video'sproducers. Cuba is not the only country to proclaim itself as the birthplace of salsa, but “La Salsa es de Cuba” makes a strong argument on the island’s behalf.