Cuban rappers defy Castro, but to what end?

Posted By Diyana Ishak Friday, December 15, 2006 - 1:38 PM Share

Young Cubans have been challenging authority through rebellious rap music, styling themselves after American hip-hop's highly political early years in 1980s New York. The mostly Afro-Cubans involved in Cuba's rap scene are vocally unhappy with the Castro regime, and that has made the government nervous.

Four years ago Cuba's Ministry of Culture created the "Cuban Rap Agency" ostensibly to "bring rebellious rhymers into the fold." Susana García Amaros, the agency's head, celebrates the art form:

Rap is a form of battle... It's a way of protesting for a section of the population. It has force. It's not just the beat — the boom, boom, boom — it's the lyrics.

But the Agency only provides support to MCs who spit the government line. So far only nine of about five hundred Cuban rappers or rap groups are part of the Agency. The government-sponsored annual hip-hop festival was a flop last year, and was canceled in 2006. That doesn't mean those rhymers outside the fold are busy amassing support for la revolución popular. The hottest trend in Cuban music is reggaetón, a fusion of reggae, rap and Latin music that is much more about sex than it is about politics. Cubans may be unhappy with Castro, but most of them just want to have a good time.

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