IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 4 ENGLISH | Page 70

ists and projects must constantly reinvent ourselves and change our work and promotional
strategies; on the upside, this makes us evolve and
grow as independent creators. There is much to
do, and if we focus on what we want, artists can
truly come together, overcome the obstacles, and
achieve important changes without having to wait
for an invitation to the negotiating table every
now and then at the Cuban Rap Agency, where
directors - comfortable in their authority, who
care nothing at all about Hip Hop - limit themselves to put off issues which they haven’t the
slightest interest to resolve or promote. We have
to keep working; we have to keep struggling
against that invisible wall that tells that we can’t.
We must roll up our sleeves and keep going forward.

Maykel Xtremo. Photo: Adolfo Cabrera
Topics about social issues and racial prejudices,
totalitarianism and manipulation are censored.
The artists and projects that promote these, or are
committed to changes and a critique of the government and its mistaken policies, receive phone
calls and visits from and are arrested by State Security.
In addition to this policy of vigilance, government
institutions and officialdom control the performance spaces, national record companies, and
most of the promotional media. Independent art-

70

Raudel and David