Knowles will be launching a weekly salsa night at the Armani/Bar, winner of the South China Morning Post's StyleAward for restaurant of the year.

Knowles has been a regular visitor to Hong Kong during the past decade, and has played venues from the Hong Kong Cultural Centre to the Harbour City shopping mall. 'I truly love the vibe,' he says. 'Everyone seems to be out to have a really good time.''

Knowles grew up surrounded by Latin music in the heart of New York's Spanish Harlem. 'I remember the family gatherings where they would move the furniture, put on the salsa music and everyone would begin to dance,' he says. 'Salsa music is part of my Puerto Rican culture - just like rice and beans.''

Knowles started spinning tracks at high school, after classmates asked him to bring a selection from what had already become an extensive record collection to a Christmas party.

'From then on I would show up with my music to parties, where I knew friends from the neighbourhood would be DJ-ing,' he says.

Knowles has watched the spread of salsa music and dance across the globe during the past decade - and says he knows the secret of its popularity. 'What makes the dance special is that it's interactive. When two people are moving in synchronisation to the same song, that's when you feel the magic.'

But when Knowles DJs there's often more than just the music working its charms on the dance floor. 'I love watching people walk off the floor, with a look on their face like they just had some good sex.'

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