In the 70´s, during the celebration of “Barranquilla´s carnival” Joe represents the core of rumba. He is a Singer in “La Protesta” music band, and is engaged with Adela, her girlfriend since he was an adolescent; but then, he meets Jackeline Ramón, daughter of a music- business entrepreneur in the Atlántico department, owner of Caribe Records. They experience love at first sight, and two days of passion surrounded by the fiesta environment. Jackeline does not talk to Joe about her father since she wants to be loved for what she is, and not for what she has.
Jackeline discovers the musical talent that Joe has, and promises him to help him make his dreams come true; what she cannot imagine is that Joe will find out about her origin due to the fact that Jacqueline’s father, Anibal Ramón, is looking for a singer to form a band, and is interested in hiring him. Everything seems to be fine, but Francisco shows up; he is Aníbal´s assistant and has always been in love with Jackeline; he feels really jealous, and has Joe sign an onerous contract. Under such contract, Joe is enslaved for life, and “Caribe Records” is left out of this business.
Fruko, director of Fruko & sus Tesos, wants Joe to work with him, and he realizes that the contract Joe had signed is burdensome. When Joe knows about this situation, he thinks that Jackeline is involved. In the meantime, Aníbal finds out about Francisco´s intentions, and he gets so upset that the situation affects his health. When Joe and Fruko approach him to talk about this issue, they do not know that Aníbal is having a heart attack that leads him to death. Jackeline and her aunt Cecilia, based on what they see, blame Joe Arroyo y Fruko for this happening, leaving Francisco as the savior and protector of the Ramon family.