Indira Bisam Mus 261: Musical Protest in the U.S Maria Sonevytsky Final Paper 10/13/16 Afro-Cuban Hip Hop: Constructing Blackness in the Late Socialist Society
Fidel Castro wanted to create a raceless society in Cuba. Unfortunately for him, this did not happen. Although there may not be a persistent discourse surrounding race in the late socialist society, contestation around the subject can be located in the rise of Cuban hip hop.
Cuban hip hop was born black.1 Similar to the rise of hip hop in the United States, it was born out of economic turmoil. In the South Bronx, minority youths created hip hop as an alternative way to make money while simultaneously building a discursive space where issues prevalent to them and their communities could be brought to light. These New York youths, however, had a large advantage over those in Cuba: they knew they were minorities, they knew about racism, and they knew they were being oppressed. Many Cubans of color are unaware of present-day racism for two main reasons: they have no voice in the political structure and the national discourse stresses unity.2 By engaging in hip hop culture and developing Cuban hip hop, Afro-
Cubans create spaces for their voices to be heard, thereby disrupting the national discourse by injecting issues of race.
Beginning in the 1960s, the government began making strong statements against racism.
They took possession of private homes in order to create housing for poorer, usually black or mixed race families. Over time, the creation of more housing and the establishment of other equalizing socialist policies contributed to a decline in racial inequality. It also lead to a better
1Geoffrey Baker, Buena Vista in the Club: Rap, Reggaetón, and Revolution in Havana (Durham: Duke University Press, 2011), 277. 2Robin D. Moore, "Afro-Cuban Folklore in a Raceless Society," in Music and Revolution: Cultural Change in Socialist Cuba (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006), 194. Indira Bisam Mus 261: Musical Protest in the U.S Maria Sonevytsky Final Paper 10/13/16 quality of life for working class Cubans of color, resulting in their enthusiastic support of the revolution.3
Since then, the government has had a difficult time maintaining a positive relationship with its communities of color. The height of this friction began in the 1990s as a result of “the
Special Period”, a period of economic downturn that resulted from the loss of Soviet-based economic stability. The downturn had the largest impact on Cubans of color who could no longer expect merit pay raises and experienced sharp declines in their recently improved standards of living.4 Consequently, people needed to find alternative ways to support themselves, which is where the story of Cuban hip hop began.
Hip hop arrived in Cuba during the 1990s in Alamar, a high density housing project on the outskirts of Havana, occupied by mainly black, working class people. A popular origin story of Cuban rap5 tells of how the tall, seaside apartment blocks of Alamar were ideally constructed and located for installing illegal antennas that would receive radio signals and TV images from
Miami.6 Those radio signals and TV images constituted that generation of critical youth’s first exposure to hip hop music and its accompanying culture. At this time many Cubans did not know English, but artists interviewed by Saunders for her article, Black Thoughts, Black
Activism: Cuban Underground Hip-hop and Afro-Latino Countercultures of Modernity, recount that “there was something that resonated with them in the sound”, “the urban and rural landscapes portrayed in the videos reminded them of their own environments”, and they “felt
3Moore, "Afro-Cuban Folklore," in Music and Revolution, 173. 4Tanya L. Saunders, "Black Thoughts, Black Activism: Cuban Underground Hip-hop and Afro-Latino Countercultures of Modernity," Latin American Perspectives 39, no. 183 (March 2010): 45-46, doi:10.1177/0094582X11428062. 5Cuban hip hop music has been largely realized through the musical structures of rap music which is why I use the terms interchangeably here. 6Geoff Baker, "‘‘La Habana que no conoces’’: Cuban rap and the social construction of urban space," Ethnomusicology Forum 15, no. 2 (November 2006): 242, doi:10.1080/17411910600915380. Indira Bisam Mus 261: Musical Protest in the U.S Maria Sonevytsky Final Paper 10/13/16 that that the artists looked like them, moved like them, and sounded like them.”7 These relationships are more important than language as they reveal the lack of knowledge Cubans of color had about their social, political, and cultural history - a problem with roots that reach back to the late nineteenth century.
Writings of the Cuban Anthropologist Society from that time suggested that Cubans of color were inherently inferior and questioned whether educating them was worth it. Attitudes such as these persisted into the 1960s when most Cubans of color attended poorly funded public schools. Those in attendance were usually forced to leave high school in order to support their families. Afro-Cubans comprised less than ten percent of university graduates in any field, despite being one-third of the entire population.8 Even if Cubans of color were able to finish university, they had no opportunity to learn about their racial identity. The government feared that learning about Afro-Cuban traditions and history would create a racial divide between the people and therefore discouraged a curriculum that would aid in the formation of a distinct Afro-
Cuban identity.9
The exclusion of Afro-Cuban traditions, including folklore, music, and history, persisted until the late 1970s. For example, the University of Havana still today does not have a separate
Afro-Cuban studies department nor is there much opportunity for students interested in the topic to pursue it independently. As of 1996, the university only offered one course on Afro-Cuban studies, poorly attended extracurricular lectures, and non-credited summer seminars.10 It can be inferred that if higher levels of education offer such limited spaces to engage in Afro-Cuban
7Saunders, "Black Thoughts," 47. 8Moore, "Afro-Cuban Folklore," in Music and Revolution, 171-173. 9Moore, "Afro-Cuban Folklore," in Music and Revolution, 174. 10Moore, "Afro-Cuban Folklore," in Music and Revolution, 189. Indira Bisam Mus 261: Musical Protest in the U.S Maria Sonevytsky Final Paper 10/13/16 studies, middle and high schools likely offer none. The lack of representation in the university system only serves to perpetuate the lack of self-knowledge held by minority youths in Cuba. As
Cuban hip hop was coming to life, its creators sought to make up for this lack of knowledge by educating their communities through lyrics.
As mentioned, Cuban hip hop was born in Alamar and the suburb is frequently described as the “home of Cuban rap”.11 Referring to the housing project as a “home” is significant for two reasons: 1) the home was the place where many Cubans of color received the majority of their race education; and 2) it created a sense of community amongst minority youths who affiliated themselves with Cuban rap.12 Many young Cubans had developed a racialized consciousness through the instruction of their parents. The home was where the generation of critical minority youths learned about blacks in Cuban history, racism, and self-love. Their parents also warned them against the self-hate that could develop in their minds as a result of the oppressive attitudes and verbal terminologies utilized by the white populations.13 The first wave of Cuban hip hop served the same purpose. Rappers would use their music to educate the community on the beauty and complexity that accompanies blackness. This wave of hip hop music is not overtly political or problematic in relation to the state, but it is revolutionary in the way it opposes the socialist “illusion of ideological coherence”.14 While the government preached color-blindness, rappers were creating a space to articulate blackness, gain a better sense of self, and support one another in the face of economic decline.
11Baker, "‘La Habana," 232. 12I am using the terms rap and hip hop interchangeably. 13Saunders, "Black Thoughts," 48. 14Baker, "‘La Habana," 222. Indira Bisam Mus 261: Musical Protest in the U.S Maria Sonevytsky Final Paper 10/13/16 A central contributor to hip hop’s success in educating the minority population of their worth has been the “rap battle” or freestyle element within the music. Freestyle is often understood as an extraneous element to hip hop culture, when rappers attempt to out rhyme one another by boosting their own ego and slinging insults at the other participants. This holds a certain level of truth in Cuban hip hop culture, but it serves the larger importance of creating a democratic community within the socialist society.15 Freestyle creates a democratic community because it allows artists and their listeners to speak freely with one another. During a live performance, some artists will take breaks between verses in order to share a few words about the message behind the lyrics and after a set is complete, the audience has the opportunity to perform a freestyle in response to a song that resonated with or interested them. Through this style of communication, artists are able to reach large audiences with their message, ensure that their message was accurately received, and hear responses from their audience and other artists.
As this democratic community exists in a socialist society, the Cuban hip hop scene is commonly referred to as “underground”.16
Geoff Baker argues that by using the term underground to refer to their music, hip hop artists are able to maintain a certain level of appeal by identifying themselves as outside or against the law. By referring to themselves as underground, artists are able to protect themselves from some of the racial policies utilized by the state run cultural institutions that claim to support
15Baker, "‘La Habana," 226. 16For his purposes, underground hip hop is defined “as consisting of ‘artists not signed to major record labels or not receiving much mainstream radio play’”. This quote comes from Imani Perry (2004,202) via Geoffery Baker, "Cuba Rebelión: Underground Music in Havana," Latin American Music Review 32, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2011): https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/latin_american_music_review/v032/32.1.baker.html. Indira Bisam Mus 261: Musical Protest in the U.S Maria Sonevytsky Final Paper 10/13/16 and popularize them.17 In the late socialist society, not all artists choose to accept assistance from the state and not all artists can expect the same levels of support. If a darker skinned artist were to collaborate with the government, they would not receive any airtime on television. As one of the most conservative branches of the Cuban state, TV has continued to exercise racism in their refusal to show black faces.18 The underground music community offers artists who would find themselves in this position another path to success. By choosing to circulate their music via the internet and word of mouth, artists of color able to support themselves economically while protecting their democratic voice and artistic integrity.
The internet also plays a large role in the success of underground artists because it allows their message to spread free of censorship and state regulations. As an Afro-Cuban rapper with physical attributes that are recognized and internalized as black, Randeee Akozta’s music videos cannot be shown on television. He is able to overcome this censoring19 by utilizing digital technology. The video for his track Jodido Protagonista mainly features clips of him rapping, images of his barrio and the people who live there, and blatant gestures towards the need for justice in the black community.20 Musically, this song sticks to the traditional construction of a hip hop track: an instrumental beat and a vocal. The simplicity of the instrumental beat puts the lyrics on center stage. Akozta uses this structure to explicitly verbalize the struggle of poor,
17Although state control of the musical public sphere has declined over the years, there are still institutions in place like the AHS (Asociacion Hermanos Saiz), the UJC (Union of Young Communists), ICM (Instituto Cubano de la Musica) that actively support underground musicians by booking them shows and giving them air time on the radio and television. Similar forms of government support for the black community and their music can be located in the early 1960s when the government realized that support from the black community was crucial to the success of the revolution. Baker, "Cuba Rebelión," 6 and Moore, "Afro-Cuban Folklore," in Music and Revolution, 174. 18Baker, "Cuba Rebelión," 5. 19Here I am using Baker’s definition of censorship as music that is in a “struggle against the present regime.” As a result of the racist policies utilized by the regime, black artists need to overcome additional obstacles in order to have their music heard on a national and, possibly, international scale. The construction of the underground music community allows artists to exist in syncretic opposition to the state. Baker, "Cuba Rebelión," 2. 20Can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0d_skRlem4. Indira Bisam Mus 261: Musical Protest in the U.S Maria Sonevytsky Final Paper 10/13/16 black people and call for change on an international scale. Although many of references may be culturally specific, there is a verse that appeals to the universal:
Por unos uniformes azules con gente adentro Que piden mi carnet por no saber que represento No saben porque visto asi, porque soy MC Porque mi materia gris en mi dispersa se dispersa Sobre cabezas presas de la prensa que no piensan Que el mundo no funciona bien porque le faltan piezas Que a nadie le interesa la paz por eso sesa Que sus nietas dan todo por dos lasta de cerzveza Que sus nietos solo tienen, marihuana en sus cabezas Alegria sobre mesas, fiestas y mas fiestas
The police ask me for my driver’s license They ask because they don’t know what I represent They don’t know me, because I’m an MC Because my grey matter is dispersed within me Heads on the prey of the media that doesn’t think The world doesn’t function right because it’s missing pieces And nobody is interested in peace because it ceases Their granddaughters give everything for two cans of beer Their grandsons only have weed in their heads Happiness around tables, parties and more parties21
In this song, Akozta calls attention to the unnecessary harassment of black men by the police and claims that he is unintelligible to the “boys in blue” because he is an MC, he is himself, and the voice of the people. The police do not understand where he is coming from because they act on the word of the media instead of thinking for themselves. He bridges the inability to think for one’s self to the fragmentary state of the modern world. People value alcohol and drugs more than the power of their heart and lungs.22
21Lyrics taken from http://www.musica.com/letras.asp?letra=2001274 . Translation done by a tedious effort performed by myself and some of the lovely Spanish speakers on campus. I take all responsibility for incorrectness in the translation, but I wanted the reader to have a general idea about what was being articulated in the song. 22Towards the end of the song he raps “Que la palabra mas importante de este tiempo es Corazon/ Que el organo mas importante de lucha es el Pulmon” which roughly translates to “the most important word of the day is the heart/ The most important organ of the fight are the lungs”. Indira Bisam Mus 261: Musical Protest in the U.S Maria Sonevytsky Final Paper 10/13/16 As a black man who is usually negatively defined by his economic class and physical features, he uses his lyrics to elevate his moral status. While rapping about his childhood in the country, he recounts being addicted to math instead of drugs and reading books instead of going to amusement parks. By locating himself in the country, he equates this level of intellectual and moral prowess to the other members of the “peasant” class.23 Through his lyrics, Akozta redefines what it means to be a black man in Cuba while questioning the legitimacy of the social structures that oppress him. Most pointedly, he is unapologetic about this redefinition. In the music video, the camera is zoomed in on Akozta’s face, allowing him to flaunt his braided hair and dark skin. While the lyrics of Jodido Protagonista call for social change, the video reminds
Afro-Cubans of their beauty and intellect. In combination, the production of this song is a powerful piece of protest music because it highlights the falsities within structures of oppression while reminding the Afro-Cuban population of their ability to succeed in the face of injustice.
In a society that claims to be colorblind, calling attention to issues of race is a powerful form of protest. By existing in the underground music community, Afro-Cuban hip hop is able to call attention to racism, oppression, and minority groups without having their voices suppressed by the structures that perpetuate false ideas of national unity. Disrupting the discourse of unity creates uncertainty about the legitimacy of the state and Cubans of color can fill these areas of ambiguity with spaces for self-education and cultural expression. Hip hop serves to facilitate the construction of these spaces by posing questions of race that had been ignored by the government since the 1960s.
23In the final verse, Akozta raps “Randy Akozta de los Paisanos un soldado de la nueva escuela.../...Recuerdo en mi ninez mas libros que parques de diversion /Que mi adiccion no son las drogas, es la Computacion” which roughly translates to “Randy Akozta of the country a soldier of the new school.../… In my childhood I remember more books than amusement parks/ My addiction wasn’t to drugs, but to math”. Indira Bisam Mus 261: Musical Protest in the U.S Maria Sonevytsky Final Paper 10/13/16 Bibliography
1) Acosta, Randy. Jodido Protagonista. Accessed October 12, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0d_skRlem4.
2) Baker, Geoff. "‘‘La Habana que no conoces’’: Cuban rap and the social construction of urban space." Ethnomusicology Forum 15, no. 2 (November 2006): 215-46. doi:10.1080/17411910600915380.
3) Baker, Geoffery. "Cuba Rebelión: Underground Music in Havana." Latin American Music Review 32, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2011): 1-38. https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/latin_american_music_review/v032/32.1.baker.html.
4) Baker, Geoffrey. Buena Vista in the Club: Rap, Reggaetón, and Revolution in Havana. Durham: Duke University Press, 2011.
5) Gates, Prof. Cuba: The Next Revolution. PBS, 2011. Accessed October 12, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygms7GCXIKY.
6) Moore, Robin D. "Afro-Cuban Folklore in a Raceless Society." In Music and Revolution: Cultural Change in Socialist Cuba, 170-96. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006.
7) Saunders, Tanya L. "Black Thoughts, Black Activism: Cuban Underground Hip-hop and Afro-Latino Countercultures of Modernity." Latin American Perspectives 39, no. 183 (March 2010): 42-60. doi:10.1177/0094582X11428062.
8) Username felo193. "LETRA 'JODIDO PROTAGONISTA.'" musica.com. Accessed October 12, 2016. http://www.musica.com/letras.asp?letra=2001274.