The 1980s was a time of diversification, as popular salsa evolved into sweet and smooth Puerto Rican salsa romantica, with lyrics dwelling on love and romance, and its more explicit cousin, salsa erotica. Salsa romantica can be traced back to "Noches Calientes", a 1984 album by singer José Alberto "El Canario" with producer Louie Ramirez. A wave of romantica singers, found wide audiences with a new style characterized by romantic lyrics, an emphasis on the melody over rhythm, and use of percussion breaks and chord changes. Some viewed salsa romantica as a rhythmically watered-down version of the genre. Critics of "salsa romántica", especially in the late 80s and early 90s, called it a commercialized, diluted form of Latin pop, in which formulaic, sentimental love ballads were simply put to Afro-Cuban rhythms—leaving no room for classic salsa's brilliant musical improvisation, or for classic salsa lyrics that tell stories of daily life or provide social and political commentary. The marketing of "salsa romántica" singers has often been based more on their youthful sex appeal than on the quality of their music. For these reasons, the form sometimes has been derided as "salsa monga" (limp or flaccid salsa), as opposed to "salsa gorda" or "salsa dura" (fat or 'hard salsa').Omar Alfanno is probably the most prolific songwriter in the salsa romántica genre he was hand held into the business by Salsa Dura songwriter Johnny Ortiz. Other notable composers include Palmer Hernandez and Jorge Luis Piloto. Antonio "Tony" Moreno, Chino Rodriguez, Sergio George and Julio "Gunda" Merced are some of the most notable producers in the salsa romántica genre. Salsa lost popularity among many Latino youth, who were drawn to American rock in large numbers, while the popularization of Dominican merengue further sapped the audience among Latinos in both New York and Puerto Rico.