Rafael Hernández Marín was a Puerto Rican songwriter, and author of hundreds of popular songs in the Latin American repertoire. He specialized in Cuban styles such as the canción, bolero and guaracha. Among his most famous compositions are "Lamento Borincano", "Capullito de alhelí", "Campanitas de cristal", "Cachita", "Silencio", "El cumbanchero", "Ausencia" and "Perfume de gardenias".

The guaracha is a genre of music that originated in Cuba, of rapid tempo and comic or picaresque lyrics. The word has been used in this sense at least since the late 18th and early 19th century. Guarachas were played and sung in musical theatres and in working-class dance salons. They became an integral part of bufo comic theatre in the mid-19th century. During the later 19th and the early 20th century the guaracha was a favourite musical form in the brothels of Havana. The guaracha survives today in the repertoires of some trova musicians, conjuntos and Cuban-style big bands.