Reflections of Contemporary Cuban Identity in the Work of Porno Para Ricardo

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Reflections of Contemporary Cuban Identity in the Work of Porno Para Ricardo Newcastle University School of Arts and Cultures A Cuban Aleph: Reflections of Contemporary Cuban Identity in the Work of Porno Para Ricardo Thomas David Astley Submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of PhD February, 2014 Abstract This dissertation focuses primarily on controversial punk band ‘Porno Para Ricardo’, using them as a case study to illuminate some of the complex networks that comprise contemporary Cuban cultural identity. The introduction and conclusion frame each chapter’s close-analysis of songs from the band’s oeuvre with an ethnographic contextualisation of aspects of ‘the everyday’ in contemporary Havana, and gives a brief history of the ways in which the band has been forced by state hegemony to a position ‘outside the Revolution’. Despite this treatment, and despite the band’s often vehement criticisms of Cuban nationalism and socialist dogma, they still share much of the same ‘obsession’ with defining a sense of national identity that pervades Cuban art and culture. This work also proposes viewing Porno Para Ricardo as an ‘Aleph’ of Cuban identity, after the short story of Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges. In Borges’ work, the Aleph is a small point in which all of space is condensed and can be seen simultaneously. I tentatively (and aware of the real-world limitations) suggest using a band so ostensibly ‘outside’ of the space of Cuban cultural identity as a point through which to examine the whole. Each chapter then provides a glimpse through this proposed Aleph to examine moments of dialogue between the band and aspects of contemporary Cuban identity construction: uses of remembrance, attachment to place, affiliation to subculture, cover versions, laughter and noise. ii Dedicado a Mariley iii Acknowledgements First and foremost, my sincere thanks and utmost respect needs to be paid to the members of Porno Para Ricardo. I am particularly indebted to Gorki and Ciro for allowing me access to their creative processes and for taking time to share their thoughts and music with me. Without this assistance, this dissertation would not have been possible. Their persistence in making music despite censorship and recrimination, their profound connection to Cuba and their longstanding passion for DIY punk music has been a constant source of inspiration. Porno Para Ricardo’s music has become a central aspect of my own identity, and it has been a pleasure and a privilege to listen to their music so often over these past four years. I own a huge debt of gratitude to my dissertation supervisor, Dr. Nanette de Jong. Her constant enthusiasm, critical reading, attention to detail, and advice above and beyond the words within this thesis have made the writing of this work both much easier and more enjoyable than it might otherwise have been. I have learned a great deal from Nanette, and I am lucky to have had her as a supervisor; I really couldn’t have wished for a more supportive mentor. There has been a significant group of influential and supportive faculty and friends within the Music Department at Newcastle whose additional support has been instrumental in the writing of this PhD. My secondary supervisor, Dr. Ian Biddle, has helped greatly with the theoretical elements of this work, and I am particularly thankful to him for his suggestions on the final chapter. Dr. Richard Elliott’s lectures on ‘Ritual, Remembrance and Recorded Sound’, as well as his work on authenticity and place and Latin American Nueva Canción, have been points of reference, and were key in shaping the structure of my own work. I would also like to thank Professor Agustín Fernández who, in the latter stages of my thesis, has been kind enough to serve as a reference. I have further benefitted from sharing the process of writing with Elodie Roy, and our countless conversations have been another highlight from this experience. Thanks needs to be given to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for funding this work. I am, as always, thankful to my family – the Astleys, the MacDonalds and the Yules – for continuing to provide such a supportive and loving atmosphere. I am particularly thankful for the constant encouragement given by my parents, Dave and Sheila and my brother and sister, William and Charlotte. Since meeting my wife in 2003, I have had the immense fortune to be accepted into a Cuban family that is passionate, immensely creative and loving. Listening to their anecdotes and stories about my wife as a child reminds me that, despite language barriers and cultural differences, there are so many similarities to be found between people. Being part of this family has given me the confidence to write about the Cuban culture I love so much. A special mention must be given to María Leisa Olivera and Luis Batule, who are a second set of parents to me, and to Franklin Reinoso, whose encyclopaedic knowledge of Cuban music and wealth of stories are always a pleasure to listen to. Finally I want to thank my wife, Mariley. It is difficult to write here how important Mariley is to every single aspect of my life; without here immense knowledge of Cuban music, without her intelligence and sociability, without her support, and without her love, this work would not exist. iv Table of Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................. 4 Rock Music in Cuba and the Obsession with Identity: A Contextual Overview .................. 12 “Y en eso llegó...” Porno Para Ricardo ........................................................................................ 18 Fragments of an Identity ................................................................................................................ 26 A Cuban Aleph? A Theoretical Framework ................................................................................ 29 Methodology .................................................................................................................................... 39 Layout ............................................................................................................................................... 44 Chapter One: Remembrances ............................................................................................ 49 Introduction: Remembering a National Identity ........................................................................ 49 An ‘Unwaved Flag’ of Cuban Identity ......................................................................................... 50 ‘Te acuerdas de...’ Examples of Unwaved Flags ......................................................................... 57 Remembrance of the Forgotten/ Understanding the Present ................................................. 60 Reflections of Russia, Remembrances of Childhood ................................................................ 62 Artwork ................................................................................................................................... 63 Destroying a Russian Guitar ..................................................................................................... 64 ‘Mi balsa’: Reflections of the Special Period ............................................................................... 66 Chapter Two: Places ........................................................................................................... 72 Introduction: Naming Places in Song .......................................................................................... 72 Placing the ‘Real’ Cuba ................................................................................................................... 75 The Rural-Urban Mapping of Cuban Identity ............................................................................ 77 Singing the City: Urban Cuban Identity ....................................................................................... 81 Porno Para Ricardo’s Havana: Authentic Places? ...................................................................... 84 Reflections of ‘El Patio de María’ .............................................................................................. 85 Vámonos pa G’: Reflections of Parque G .................................................................................. 88 Chapter Three: Subcultures and Institutions ..................................................................... 95 Introduction: An Archipelagic Network of Subcultures? ......................................................... 96 “No Such Thing as a Cuban Rock Scene”: Authenticity and Mimicry ................................... 98 Outside the Revolution... and Outside Subculture ................................................................... 103 ‘Comunista Chivatón’ – ‘Communist Snitch’ ........................................................................... 104 ‘La Agencia del Rock’ – ‘Rock Agency’ ................................................................................. 107 Outside Subculture: ‘Black Metal’ ............................................................................................... 110 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 116 Chapter Four: Cover Versions ..........................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • Beyond Salsa Bass the Cuban Timba Revolution
    BEYOND SALSA BASS THE CUBAN TIMBA REVOLUTION VOLUME 1 • FOR BEGINNERS FROM CHANGÜÍ TO SON MONTUNO KEVIN MOORE audio and video companion products: www.beyondsalsa.info cover photo: Jiovanni Cofiño’s bass – 2013 – photo by Tom Ehrlich REVISION 1.0 ©2013 BY KEVIN MOORE SANTA CRUZ, CA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without written permission of the author. ISBN‐10: 1482729369 ISBN‐13/EAN‐13: 978‐148279368 H www.beyondsalsa.info H H www.timba.com/users/7H H [email protected] 2 Table of Contents Introduction to the Beyond Salsa Bass Series...................................................................................... 11 Corresponding Bass Tumbaos for Beyond Salsa Piano .................................................................... 12 Introduction to Volume 1..................................................................................................................... 13 What is a bass tumbao? ................................................................................................................... 13 Sidebar: Tumbao Length .................................................................................................................... 1 Difficulty Levels ................................................................................................................................ 14 Fingering..........................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Between Rock and a Hard Place
    Rockin' Las Americas The Global Politics of Rock in Latin/o America EDITED BY DEBORAH PACINI HERNANDEZ, HECTOR FERNANDEZ L'HOESTE, AND ERIC ZOLOV University of Pittsburgh Press Published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15260 Copyright © 2004, University 01 Pittsburgh Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rockin' las Americas : the global politics of rock in Laing() America / edited by Deborah Pacini Hernandez, Hector Fernandez L'Hoeste, and Eric %ohm p. cut. — (Illuminations) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8229-4226-7 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-8229-5841-4 (pbk. : aik. paper) 1. Rock music—Political aspects—Latin America. 2. Rock tousle— Social aspects—Latin America 1. Pacini Hernandez, Deborah. It. Fernandez Ulloeste, Hector I)., 1962— III. Zolne, Eric. IV. Illuminations (Pittsburgh, Pa.) M1.39I 7.1,27/263 2004 2003027604 Between Rock and a Hard Place Negotiating Rock in Revolutionary Cuba, 1960-1980 DEBORAH PACINI HERNANDEZ AND REEBEE GAROFALO In the mid-1960s, singer/songwriter Silvio Rodriguez was fired from his job at the Cuban Radio and Television Institute for mentioning the Beatles as one of his musical influences on the air. Some thirty-five years later, on De- cember 8, 2000, the anniversary of John Lennon's death, a statue of John Lennon was dedicated in a park located in the once-fashionable Vedado sec- tion of Havana. Present at the ceremony were not only Abel Prieto, Cuba's long-haired Minister of Culture, but Fidel Castro himself, who helped Rodriguez unveil the statue.
    [Show full text]
  • Lietuvos Muzikologija 21.Indd
    Lietuvos muzikologija, t. 21, 2020 Iván César MORALES FLORES A “Special Period in Times of Peace”: Emergence, Exodus, and Evasion on the Cuban Music Map of the 1990s „Ypatingasis taikos meto laikotarpis“. Iškilimas, emigracija ir laviravimas XX a. paskutinio dešimtmečio Kubos muzikiniame žemėlapyje University of Oviedo, Luis Muñiz 4, Basement B, 33009, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain [email protected] Abstract The political changes that shook Eastern Europe between 1989 and 1991 brought about one of the biggest fractures in Cuba’s political and so- ciocultural life after the triumph of the revolution. Consequently, the Cuban musical map of the 90s was marked by two main events: the boom of timba in popular dance music and the exodus of most of the island’s classical composers. As we will see, evasion was a feature shared by both music scenes. In the case of timba, it was manifested in the development of musical and performatic resources of radical complexity and social background; while in contemporary classical music, it was manifested in the increasing expansion of the work of its composers in the new spaces of the Cuban diaspora. The effect of this historic moment in Cuban society is evident both in the multifaceted physiognomy that music acquires on the island and abroad as well as in the social and cultural uses music entails as a process of constructing new identities. Deepening these complex dynamics is the main objective of our proposal, which is approached from a sociological, cultural, and musicological perspective by authors such as Frith (1987), Clifford (1988), Bhabha (1994), Hall (1996), Brah (1996), Braziel and Mannur (2003), and García Canclini (2008).
    [Show full text]
  • Songs by Artist
    DJU Karaoke Songs by Artist Title Versions Title Versions ! 112 Alan Jackson Life Keeps Bringin' Me Down Cupid Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Dance With Me Do Its Over Now +44 Peaches & Cream When Your Heart Stops Beating Right Here For You 1 Block Radius U Already Know You Got Me 112 Ft Ludacris 1 Fine Day Hot & Wet For The 1st Time 112 Ft Super Cat 1 Flew South Na Na Na My Kind Of Beautiful 12 Gauge 1 Night Only Dunkie Butt Just For Tonight 12 Stones 1 Republic Crash Mercy We Are One Say (All I Need) 18 Visions Stop & Stare Victim 1 True Voice 1910 Fruitgum Co After Your Gone Simon Says Sacred Trust 1927 1 Way Compulsory Hero Cutie Pie If I Could 1 Way Ride Thats When I Think Of You Painted Perfect 1975 10 000 Maniacs Chocol - Because The Night Chocolate Candy Everybody Wants City Like The Weather Love Me More Than This Sound These Are Days The Sound Trouble Me UGH 10 Cc 1st Class Donna Beach Baby Dreadlock Holiday 2 Chainz Good Morning Judge I'm Different (Clean) Im Mandy 2 Chainz & Pharrell Im Not In Love Feds Watching (Expli Rubber Bullets 2 Chainz And Drake The Things We Do For Love No Lie (Clean) Wall Street Shuffle 2 Chainz Feat. Kanye West 10 Years Birthday Song (Explicit) Beautiful 2 Evisa Through The Iris Oh La La La Wasteland 2 Live Crew 10 Years After Do Wah Diddy Diddy Id Love To Change The World 2 Pac 101 Dalmations California Love Cruella De Vil Changes 110 Dear Mama Rapture How Do You Want It 112 So Many Tears Song List Generator® Printed 2018-03-04 Page 1 of 442 Licensed to Lz0 DJU Karaoke Songs by Artist
    [Show full text]
  • Music Production and Cultural Entrepreneurship in Today’S Havana: Elephants in the Room
    MUSIC PRODUCTION AND CULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN TODAY’S HAVANA: ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM by Freddy Monasterio Barsó A thesis submitted to the Department of Cultural Studies In conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada (September, 2018) Copyright ©Freddy Monasterio Barsó, 2018 Abstract Cultural production and entrepreneurship are two major components of today’s global economic system as well as important drivers of social development. Recently, Cuba has introduced substantial reforms to its socialist economic model of central planning in order to face a three-decade crisis triggered by the demise of the USSR. The transition to a new model, known as the “update,” has two main objectives: to make the state sector more efficient by granting more autonomy to its organizations; and to develop alternative economic actors (small private businesses, cooperatives) and self-employment. Cultural production and entrepreneurship have been largely absent from the debates and decentralization policies driving the “update” agenda. This is mainly due to culture’s strategic role in the ideological narrative of the ruling political leadership, aided by a dysfunctional, conservative cultural bureaucracy. The goal of this study is to highlight the potential of cultural production and entrepreneurship for socioeconomic development in the context of neoliberal globalization. While Cuba is attempting to advance an alternative socialist project, its high economic dependency makes the island vulnerable to the forces of global neoliberalism. This study focuses on Havana’s music sector, particularly on the initiatives, musicians and music professionals operating in the informal economy that has emerged as a consequence of major contradictions and legal gaps stemming from an outdated cultural policy and ambiguous regulation.
    [Show full text]
  • Beyoncé, Santana, and Rhythm As a Representation of People and Place and Place Overview
    BEYONCÉ, SANTANA, AND RHYTHM AS A REPRESENTATION OF PEOPLE AND PLACE AND PLACE OVERVIEW ESSENTIAL QUESTION How does “the beat” of popular music reflect the histories of multiethnic populations and places? OVERVIEW At different times in American history, rhythm has been a contested issue. Within the cultural “melting pot” of the nation, both the way people feel rhythms and musical meter and the instruments they use to express them have sometimes been interpreted as “dangerous.” During the years in which slavery was a part of American life, the ships that crossed the Atlantic Ocean en route to the Americas, ships carrying African slaves, also brought the music and dance traditions of these people. Many of these traditions were rich with rhythmic complexity. Even today the rhythms we think of as “the beat” in popular music carry traces of the West African music brought to the Americas by slaves, and nearly all of the music we hear now is the result of musical and cultural mixing between the many ethnic populations that have cohabited here since. Music has always been a meeting place, sometimes challenging the “official” systems of social organization. When the slave trade was in practice, each colony and country responded differently to the cultural practices of the forced labor that drove their economies. In Cuba, slaves were permitted to gather at specific times. In these communal moments music and dance traditions from throughout West Africa were both maintained and adapted to their new home. Slaves identified as having musical talent were also required to learn Spanish dance music and perform for plantation owners.
    [Show full text]
  • Songs by Artist
    73K October 2013 Songs by Artist 73K October 2013 Title Title Title +44 2 Chainz & Chris Brown 3 Doors Down When Your Heart Stops Countdown Let Me Go Beating 2 Evisa Live For Today 10 Years Oh La La La Loser Beautiful 2 Live Crew Road I'm On, The Through The Iris Do Wah Diddy Diddy When I'm Gone Wasteland Me So Horny When You're Young 10,000 Maniacs We Want Some P---Y! 3 Doors Down & Bob Seger Because The Night 2 Pac Landing In London Candy Everybody Wants California Love 3 Of A Kind Like The Weather Changes Baby Cakes More Than This Dear Mama 3 Of Hearts These Are The Days How Do You Want It Arizona Rain Trouble Me Thugz Mansion Love Is Enough 100 Proof Aged In Soul Until The End Of Time 30 Seconds To Mars Somebody's Been Sleeping 2 Pac & Eminem Closer To The Edge 10cc One Day At A Time Kill, The Donna 2 Pac & Eric Williams Kings And Queens Dreadlock Holiday Do For Love 311 I'm Mandy 2 Pac & Notorious Big All Mixed Up I'm Not In Love Runnin' Amber Rubber Bullets 2 Pistols & Ray J Beyond The Gray Sky Things We Do For Love, The You Know Me Creatures (For A While) Wall Street Shuffle 2 Pistols & T Pain & Tay Dizm Don't Tread On Me We Do For Love She Got It Down 112 2 Unlimited First Straw Come See Me No Limits Hey You Cupid 20 Fingers I'll Be Here Awhile Dance With Me Short Dick Man Love Song It's Over Now 21 Demands You Wouldn't Believe Only You Give Me A Minute 38 Special Peaches & Cream 21st Century Girls Back Where You Belong Right Here For You 21St Century Girls Caught Up In You U Already Know 3 Colours Red Hold On Loosely 112 & Ludacris Beautiful Day If I'd Been The One Hot & Wet 3 Days Grace Rockin' Into The Night 12 Gauge Home Second Chance Dunkie Butt Just Like You Teacher, Teacher 12 Stones 3 Doors Down Wild Eyed Southern Boys Crash Away From The Sun 3LW Far Away Be Like That I Do (Wanna Get Close To We Are One Behind Those Eyes You) 1910 Fruitgum Co.
    [Show full text]
  • Table of Contents
    CUBA COUNTRY READER TABLE OF CONTENTS Cecil B. Lyon 1931 Consular Officer, Havana William Belton 1938 Consular Officer, Havana James N. Cortada 1938-1948 Importer, Havana Niles W. Bond 1939-1940 Vice Consul, Havana LaRue R. Lutkins 1942-1944 Consular Officer, Havana Clarence S. Boonstra 1943-1945 Assistant Agricultural Attaché, Havana 1955-1958 Economic Counselor, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, Havana Carl F. Norden 1945-1947 Commercial Officer, Havana William B. Cobb, Jr. 1945-1947 Consular Officer, Havana Robert F. Woodward 1946-1947 Deputy Chief of Mission, Havana Lester Mallory 1946-1948 Counselor to Havana Nancy Ostrander 1947-1950 Consular Clerk, Santiago 1950-1952 Consular Files Chief, Havana Thomas F. Conlon 1949-1951 Consular Officer, Havana Richard G. Cushing 1952-1957 Public Affairs Officer, USIS, Havana John F. Correll 1956-1959 Labor Attaché, Havana Michael H. Newlin 1958-1963 United Nations Affairs, Washington, DC William Lenderking 1959-1960 Rotation Officer, USIA, Havana G. Harvey Summ 1959-1960 Principal Officer, Santiago 1960-1961 Consular Officer, Havana Robert M. Sayre 1960-1961 Economic Counselor, Havana 1 Kathleen Turner 1960-1961 Childhood, Havana William T. Pryce 1960-1961 Special assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs, Washington, DC Jordan Thomas Rogers 1961-1963 Reports Officer, Staff Secretariat, Washington, DC Leonard Meeker 1962 Deputy Legal Advisor, Department of State, Washington, DC Thomas L. Hughes 1963-1969 Director, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Washington, DC Ronald D. Godard 1970-1972 Deputy Director, Office of the Coordinator of Human Affairs, Miami, FL 1972-1973 Desk Officer, Cuban Affairs, Washington, DC John A. Bushnell 1977-1982 Deputy Assistant Secretary, ARA, Washington, DC Rudolf V.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstract Humanities Jordan Iii, Augustus W. B.S. Florida
    ABSTRACT HUMANITIES JORDAN III, AUGUSTUS W. B.S. FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY, 1994 M.A. CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY, 1998 THE IDEOLOGICAL AND NARRATIVE STRUCTURES OF HIP-HOP MUSIC: A STUDY OF SELECTED HIP-HOP ARTISTS Advisor: Dr. Viktor Osinubi Dissertation Dated May 2009 This study examined the discourse of selected Hip-Hop artists and the biographical aspects of the works. The study was based on the structuralist theory of Roland Barthes which claims that many times a performer’s life experiences with class struggle are directly reflected in his artistic works. Since rap music is a counter-culture invention which was started by minorities in the South Bronx borough ofNew York over dissatisfaction with their community, it is a cultural phenomenon that fits into the category of economic and political class struggle. The study recorded and interpreted the lyrics of New York artists Shawn Carter (Jay Z), Nasir Jones (Nas), and southern artists Clifford Harris II (T.I.) and Wesley Weston (Lii’ Flip). The artists were selected on the basis of geographical spread and diversity. Although Hip-Hop was again founded in New York City, it has now spread to other parts of the United States and worldwide. The study investigated the biography of the artists to illuminate their struggles with poverty, family dysfunction, aggression, and intimidation. 1 The artists were found to engage in lyrical battles; therefore, their competitive discourses were analyzed in specific Hip-Hop selections to investigate their claims of authorship, imitation, and authenticity, including their use of sexual discourse and artistic rivalry, to gain competitive advantage.
    [Show full text]
  • The Politics and Commodification of Cuban Music During the Special
    NEGOTIATION WITH THE REVOLUTION: THE POLITICS AND COMMODIFICATION OF CUBAN MUSIC DURING THE SPECIAL PERIOD by Eric Jason Oberstein Department of Cultural Anthropology Advisors: Caroline Yezer Paul Berliner Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with distinction for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the Department of Cultural Anthropology in the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences of Duke University 2007 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Caroline Yezer and Paul Berliner, my committee members, for their constant support and guidance throughout the writing process. They helped me define my topic, read through my drafts, and gave me direction with my ideas. I would like to thank the Department of Cultural Anthropology at Duke University, especially Orin Starn, who encouraged me to write a senior thesis, and Heather Settle, who was one of my first anthropology instructors and who taught me about the depth of Cuba. In addition, I would like to thank Bradley Simmons, my Afro-Cuban percussion mentor, who taught me how to play and appreciate Cuban music. I would also like to thank my family for fostering my passion for Cuban music and culture. A special thanks goes to Osvaldo Medina, my personal Cuban music encyclopedia, who always managed to find me in the corner at family parties and shared stories of Cuban musicians young and old. Finally, I dedicate this thesis to the musicians of Cuba, both on and off the island. Your work forever inspires and moves me. ii Contents Introduction..............................................................................................................................1 Research Question .............................................................................................................1 Significance of Research.................................................................................................. 14 Methods............................................................................................................................ 18 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc."Somos Cubanos!"
    Trans. Revista Transcultural de Música E-ISSN: 1697-0101 [email protected] Sociedad de Etnomusicología España Froelicher, Patrick "Somos Cubanos!" - timba cubana and the construction of national identity in Cuban popular music Trans. Revista Transcultural de Música, núm. 9, diciembre, 2005, p. 0 Sociedad de Etnomusicología Barcelona, España Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=82200903 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Somos Cubanos! Revista Transcultural de Música Transcultural Music Review #9 (2005) ISSN:1697-0101 “Somos Cubanos!“ – timba cubana and the construction of national identity in Cuban popular music Patrick Froelicher Abstract The complex processes that led to the emergence of salsa as an expression of a “Latin” identity for Spanish-speaking people in New York City constitute the background before which the Cuban timba discourse has to be seen. Timba, I argue, is the consequent continuation of the Cuban “anti-salsa-discourse” from the 1980s, which regarded salsa basically as a commercial label for Cuban music played by non-Cuban musicians. I interpret timba as an attempt by Cuban musicians to distinguish themselves from the international Salsa scene. This distinction is aspired by regular references to the contemporary changes in Cuban society after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Thus, the timba is a “child” of the socialist Cuban music landscape as well as a product of the rapidly changing Cuban society of the 1990s.
    [Show full text]
  • Hip-Hop: Authenticity and Rebellion Enrique Del Risco Writer Cuban
    Cuban Rap Hip-Hop: Authenticity and Rebellion Enrique del Risco Writer Cuban. Resident of the United States s with so many other things, Cuba is place that will allow this genre to avoid the the last great hope for enthusiasts of contradiction of authenticity and money. At Apure hip-hop in Cuba. It is the genre’s best, they have only a minimal idea of what Promised Land or Jurassic Park. As Sujatha authenticity is, as if a desire to become wealth- Fernandes Cites: “while the distinction ier were less acceptable than just living in between underground and commercial in the poverty and denouncing the situation. In con- United States derives from a perception of sidering vulgar materialism, one might say authenticity and commercial success as oppo- that authenticity’s basic definition stems from a sites, American rappers often accord an line of thinking, or rhetoric, more or less in authenticity or underground status to their keeping with the context in which it exists. For Cuban counterparts, given Cuba’s image as a example, this definition could address the successful revolutionary government among authenticity of a Cuban rapper whose work sections of the African American community.”1 concerns itself more with racism in the United Those who are of that mind seem to be States than in his own country (which was once guided by a much too literal sense of the observed in a U.S. documentary about hip-hop world. Perhaps they believe that if a govern- in Cuba). Even so, one might have to accept ment proclaims itself as revolutionary, it actu- that the aforementioned concern could be con- ally devotes itself to transforming society.
    [Show full text]