Identidades in English No 1, February 2014 | Page 37

Limitless Censorship or The Other History of Cuban Rap Alina Guzmán Tamayo Photographer Executive Producer OMNI Zona Franca Civil Activist. General Producer de ACETATO Producciones Havana, Cuba W hat is censorship? How do we feel when we are censored? The most difficult equa- or housing project in Cuba embraced the sound of international HIP HOP as a tool for social communica- Rap: enthusiasm and reflection tion to understand is: Rap + Rappers – Cuban Hip Hop = CENSORSHIP. About twenty years ago, Cuba saw the rise of a phenomenon that combined the strength of African rhythms and more contemporary musical expression from around the world. Lacking the interest or knowledge to join New AGE MUSIC, young people in marginalized neighborhoods from every city, town 36 tion and way to publicly express their human, social, political and economic concerns. THE FIRST CUBAN RAP FESTIVAL made Cuban music history: it is part of that history. “The Festival” was also the first of its kind in all of Latin America and inspired great expectations, on an international scale, which made both the ground and censors at Cuba’s institutions, tremble. Rap was the forced renovation of protest songs in Cuba. A new kind of air, not