Born in 1926 in Pinar del Río, Enrique Jorrín took up the violin at age 12. He later attended the Municipal Conservatory of Havana and by 1943 he was a member of Arcaño y sus Maravillas, Cuba’s most important charanga. The band, directed by Antonio Arcaño and featuring brothers Israel López “Cachao” and Orestes López, who wrote most of the group’s repertoire, was the main exponent of the danzón, a popular style of ballroom music. At the time, the López brothers were experimenting with the last section of the danzón, in which they incorporated a montuno, giving rise to the so-called danzón nuevo ritmo, the origin of the mambo. During his time with Arcaño, Jorrín grew as a danzón composer, and by the time he left the band to join Orquesta América, in the late 1940s, he was a well-respected musician.

Jorrín realized that mambo was very difficult to dance compared to other ballroom styles due to its high syncopation. Thus, he decided to alter its melody to make it more danceable and accessible.Jorrín applied this principles to “La engañadora”, a song he composed in Havana sometime in 1951, the year it was first performed before an audience.

The lyrics of “La engañadora” talk about an attractive, voluptuous woman who passes through the streets of Prado and Neptuno in Havana and who captivates all men who see her; however, once it’s discovered that the woman in question is actually wearing cushions under her clothes to appear curvier, all the men lose interest in her, and the lyrics state: “How foolish are the women who try to deceive us!”. The song is apparently based on the real experiences of Jorrín and his friends, who used to see many women pass by the streets of Prado and Neptuno.