Salsa Candy

1) This is not a food post.  2) The title will make sense by the end.

In the musical genre of salsa, there is a basic rhythmic device known as the clave.  There are two versions of it, neither one of which I can easily relate in a text-based format.  However, the "son clave" has proven to be sufficiently pervasive that it has appeared in many other genres, from jazz to funk to R&B to straight up pop. In fact, in some circles the same basic rhythm was known as the "Bo Diddley beat."

For example-- in the song I Want Candy, (which can be seen at http://youtu.be/MiiD8KeAFew as performed by The Strangeloves), the percussion is a son clave.  Three even beats, followed by two quicker ones.

The bass line of Born to Hand Jive (as seen in the movie Grease) is almost a son clave.

There's also a rumba clave, which is very similar except that the third beat is delayed by a half.  I have no other way of describing it in words, but if you search for it on YouTube you'll find plenty of examples.