Ever since it has become a Cuban son standard, with famous versions by Abelardo Barroso, Sierra Maestra, Buena Vista Social Club and Ibrahim Ferrer.

The song, which has been called "a landmark in the development of Cuban popular music" by Ned Sublette, was Arsenio Rodríguez's first hit and an example of his Afro-Cuban style of son within the afrocubanismo movement.

[1][5] Both songs were released as A-sides of their respective singles, but only "Bruca maniguá" (with the bolero son "Dolor cobarde" as B-side) achieved international success, marking the start of Rodríguez's rise to fame.

[6] Although the song was labeled as a "conga" on the original 78 rpm single by RCA Victor, it is in fact an afro-son, i.e. a son montuno combined with African motifs.

[10] Both the usage of bozal (or "neobozal", according to Ned Sublette) and the thematic elements of the song fall within the context of the afrocubanismo movement which had started in the 1920s as an attempt to acknowledge and preserve Afro-Cuban culture.