IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 4 ENGLISH | Page 68

Living Off of Cuban Hip Hop
Miriam Real
Cultural promoter
Director Hip Hop Misceláneo
Havana, Cuba

A

few days ago, a friend of mine was saying that because of our ways of interacting and what our work faces within the
realm of “alternativeness”, we’re metaphorically
like dinosaurs within Cuban society, in which apparent changes and openings offer a false image
of freedom and plurality without either being true
at all. We live in a society in which an essentially
urban culture like hip hop, with its messages
aimed at the least fortunate, has no possibility of
being disseminated. This is particularly true of the
hip hop artists most critical of our daily reality
and its scourges. All rappers have been victims of
direct or indirect censorship, to varying degrees.

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No less is it the case that there are some who overcome that “mysterious force” we all know is State
Security disguised as cultural institution, perhaps
because they overcome their fear of the unknown
and are not victims of racial and social prejudice.
As a hip hop event producer and director of an
independent magazine, Hip Hop Misceláneo,
which defends complete freedom of creation and
development,
I’ve been through difficult situations, including
being prohibited from presenting the publication
at institutions such as the Hermanos Saiz Association.