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¡Escuche Las Krudas! ¡Escuche Las Krudas! Raw, Feminist Rap Music From Havana, Cuba TALIA WOOLDRIDGE Les raperas queer de la Havane, las 1959 he announced his intent to dress, marriage, gender stereotypes, Krudas, utilisent le mouvement hip abolish sexism, racism and classism. and in the cultural arts (Smith and hop appuyé par l’État pour sensibiliser In 1960 he founded the Federación Padula; Guillard Limonta; Fer- les Cubains aux problèmes féministes de Mujeres Cubanas (The Federa- nandes 2006; Fleites-Lear). While et défier le patriarcat cubain qui ré- tion of Cuban Women, or the FMC) this is slowly changing, these sexist siste encore. Elles demandent au peu- to promote education and labour beliefs remain especially common in ple d’écouter (!escuchar!) leurs rythmes equality between the sexes. At the the music industry (Perry; Thomas, qui s’insurgent contre les rôles genrés closing of the Fifth National Plenary S.; Las Krudas 2008). et qui forgent une solidarité féminine of the FMC, Castro stated in his fa- Havana raperas (female rappers) à l’intérieur de la société post révolu- mous 1966 speech titled “Women’s Las Krudas challenge these ma- tionnaire.de Cuba Liberation: A ‘Revolution Within chista attitudes1 through their un- the Revolution’”: derground Cuban rap music and Las raperas Queer Havana, Las Kru- bring an alternative feminist-queer da, apoyadas por el estado cubano, For events now are demonstrat- presence to hip-hop’s tradition- usan el movimiento del hip-hop para ing the possibilities of women ally heteronormative and chauvin- crear conocimiento acerca de asuntos and the role that women can ist tradition (Perry 263). As Marc feministas y cambiar el patriarcado play in a revolutionary process David Perry has suggested, “Las cubano. A través de proponer a la in which society is liberating Krudas refuse to conform to pa- gente que escuchen sus ritmos, Las itself above all, from exploita- triarchal gendered prescriptions of Krudas disputan los roles de género y tion and from prejudices.… It Cuban women as passive male-gaze formulan solidaridad feminista en los seems to us that women must oriented objects” (374). Known as confines de la sociedad cubana. still fight and exert great efforts rap cubano, Cuban rap music is de- to attain the place that they scribed as constructively critiquing I’m going to do something you should really hold in society. “the deficiencies that exist in society, don’t expect from me (5) educating youth and opening spaces When I form my own chorus to improve the social order” (Olav- I don’t need you, machismo, Vilma Espin, a chemical engineer arria 1). “Afro-Cuban youth [began] I escape you, slavery, and then-wife of Raul Castro, head- building a movement around hip- And I wear the pants, ed the FMC and achieved the most hop—a revolution within the revo- And speak of the love of all the progressive education, labour, fam- lution” (Olavarria 1) during Cuba’s “babes” ily, and health care rights for women economic crisis in the mid-1990s You feel rejection, rejection! in all of the Americas, including ac- known as the Special Period between —Las Krudas “Liberación” cess to free abortion, affordable day- 1990-1998. It gained government (Liberation) Kandela 2008 care and the right to divorce (Smith support in 2002, complete with (trans. Kaushalya Bannerji) and Padula). Despite these progres- a state-funded rap agency known sive strides, however, patriarchal and as the Agencia Cubana de Rap. For When Fidel Castro articulated his macho attitudes still reside in the many Cuban raperas, rap music pro- revolutionary goals for Cuba in social fabric of Cuban life in work, vides a medium in which they are 74 CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME Las Krudas performing. able to honestly reflect upon and role that they fought in the are explored through song, lyric and question women’s true position in Revolution … and today there performance analysis. Cuban society. are a lot of women who are lib- Las Krudas’ songs focus on erated from the house…. [But] History of Las Krudas themes of resistance, equality, and compared to the USA, Cuban body image, and promote feminine women are subjugated and op- Our thing is working against solidarity, tolerance, freedom, and pressed and live for the man: the posture of the entire world, the confidence to be true to one’s everything is with the man, be- specifically that of Cuban cul- marginalized and oppressed (Afro- cause of the man, and for the ture, Latin culture, Caribbean Cuban, female) identity. In this man. And we don’t like that, culture. [These cultures] are sense, these female musicians are but we realize that we’ve gained very rich, very flavorful but social activists who are fighting and something because before the [they are also] very machista, exerting “great efforts to attain the revolution it was worse. (Las very lesbophobica. Very mi- place that they should really hold Krudas 2007) sogynistic are these cultures. in society” and demonstrating “the So our project is to take all of [vital] role that women can play in Whether utilized for social activ- this negative stuff, put it on the a revolutionary process in which ism, creating awareness or for self- table, acknowledge that it exists society is liberating itself, above all, empowerment, rap music serves a and decide what we are going from exploitation and from preju- pivotal role in these raperas’ lives. to do to resolve this problem. dices” (Castro 5).2 Olivia Prendes, After an introduction to the trio, (Pasa qtd. in Saunders 1) a member of Las Krudas, acknowl- a brief history of their career, non- edges musical and musical activism will Las Krudas, whose name trans- follow. Afterward, the trio’s main lates into “the raw ones, referring there is a certain determination musical themes of oppression, re- to their raw lyrics, appearance of women that comes from the sistance, feminism and body image and adherence to vegetarianism” VOLUME 27, NUMBER 1 75 (Perry 374), is made up of Olivia viewed in rap cubano’s hip-hop The Feminist Activism of Las Prendes (a.k.a. Pelusa MC) and sis- magazine, Movimiento, by Norma Krudas ters Odaymara Cuesta (a.k.a. Pasa Guillard-Limonta, an esteemed Kruda) and Odalys Cuesta (a.k.a. Cuban sociologist and co-founder What is feminism for me? It is Wanda Kruda). Olivia and Oday- of now-disbanded Cuban feminist a woman defending the reasons mara form a romantic couple. The group MAGIN. The article includes to live and the necessity that we trio began rapping in late 1999 af- a discussion of the important have to be happy and respected ter initially performing for about themes that each song addresses in [every one] of the decisions two years as an independent, com- and that helped the trio gain na- we make in life…. [Y]ou don’t munity-based, stilt-walking, rum- tional exposure, including songs have to sit for twelve hours in a ba, street-theater group. Known as about menstruation and feminism. university to understand it; but Las Krudas reject academic feminism as being elitist and encourage a grassroots approach, describing their message as being “for every woman, person, child, immigrant, queer person, depressed person [who is] fighting for freedom, diversity, justice, and peace.” Tropazancos CUBENSI, the troupe This CD was followed by a second feeling yourself to be a woman “leave[s] children with important independent release out of Texas in and feeling the things that hap- messages such as take care of the 2007 titled Kandela (“fire”). pen to all us women and from earth, eat healthily, love your fam- Las Krudas have performed at nu- that stand up and say, yes I am ily and love your community” merous festivals all over the world, a feminist, that I am. (Pasa (Saunders 2007:1). Rodolfo Ren- including the Pop Montreal Festi- Krudas qtd. in Saunders 1) soli, the initial founder of Cuba’s val (2005), Las Mujeres de Hip-Hop annual rap festival, asked Tro- Cubano (Women in Cuban Hip- Las Krudas’ feminist identity is pazancos to perform at Alamar’s Hop) U.S. Tour, numerous lesbian visible through their community ac- Fourth Annual hip-hop Festival in and women’s concerts in San Fran- tivism in lesbian groups in Havana, 1999 (Las Krudas 2008). Here, the cisco, including the Dyke March with Omega Kilay and in the rap trio discovered the power of ampli- in Dolores Park, and an activist cubano movement. They reject aca- fying their message with a micro- concert in Puerto Rico (2007). The demic feminism as being elitist and phone and returned to perform the trio also toured with U.S. Afrobeat encourage a grassroots approach, following year as Las Krudas “with band, Antibalas, during the sum- describing their message as being microphones” (Las Krudas 2008). mer of 2007. Las Krudas speak at “for every woman, person, child, a number of academic and hip-hop immigrant, queer person, depressed After [their] performance in conferences, thereby maintaining person [who is] fighting for free- the 2000 hip-hop festival, the the important educational compo- dom, space, diversity, justice, and pioneering Cuban hip-hop nent of the trio’s street performance peace” (Las Krudas 2008). On their producer, Pablo Herrera, en- troupe and the underground rap business card, Las Krudas describe couraged them to produce a cubano movement. They are also themselves as “womyn for social CD and to pursue work within featured in numerous dissertations, change” and believe that “we need the nascent Hip-hop move- documentaries, and rap compila- more women in social processes, in ment.
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