RSS 2.0 FeedRapping For Liberty
by Doug MataconisThere’s a story on CNN today that provides yet further evidence that Cuban Communism will not survive the death of Fidel Castro:
HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) — Working on an old computer with a burned-out monitor, Cuban rapper Aldo Rodriguez painstakingly lays the tracks for his next song.
Sitting shirtless on the edge of his bed, tattoos up and down both arms, the 23-year-old says he’s not afraid to speak his mind in the communist country run by Fidel Castro for decades. His lyrics are punchy and edgy, tackling issues that the state would prefer not to be aired.
“I’ve pointed out the things that seem wrong to me, and the people like it,” he says. “They like to hear it because they identify with what they hear in the songs.
“It’s not anything bad. It’s just the truth, and the people aren’t used to hearing it.”
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For example, in their song “Ya Nos Cansamos,” roughly translated “We’re Fed Up,” you’ll hear these lines:
“They’re always saying we’re all equal
But you tell me if the doorways are crumbling in the generals’ houses.
Of course all the hospitals in Cuba are free
But who do they treat better, the officers, or me?”Rap has a small but devoted following in Cuba. But driving through Alamar, the neighborhood outside Havana thought of as the birthplace of Cuban rap, it’s reggaeton, not rap, that’s blaring from the dilapidated apartments these days.
(…)
But among young men in particular, rap’s aggressive stance has a unique appeal: No other form of music takes on the country’s problems so directly.
The Cuban government has recognized the subversive nature of this music and has tried to co-opt it, unsuccessfully:
In an effort to exert its influence over rap, the Cuban government created the Cuban Rap Agency in 2002. The agency promotes about a dozen rappers and produces their albums, but you won’t find government critics like Rodriguez on their roster. These underground rappers say they won’t be silenced or co-opted by the government.
So, they work out of their homes and distribute their music by hand on homemade CD’s copied over and over again.
Call it a 21st Century, Latin American version of samizdat, this time with a hip-hop beat.
