Music has the power to inspire, create, move and revolutionize. In the Caribbean, music runs through the blood of its inhabitants, it is no coincidence that this region is one of the largest exporters of music.
Urban music, in turn, has become the art of liberation not only politically, but also socially and even sexually, where the three do not necessarily have to be separated. The phenomenon of Bad Bunny It has filled many Puerto Ricans with pride since it has distinguished itself throughout the world for its rhythm made up of Puerto Rican slang, explicit language and protest.
In Puerto RicoReggaeton began as an underground movement due to its explicit content. Over the years, due to its great popularity, reggaeton has become a patriotic pride for many. A pride that has led some to let go of the macho language of this genre.
The song “The blackout” of the award-winning album Grammy “A Summer Without You” of Bad Bunny is used for protests against Americans on the island due to the influx of Americans moving to Puerto Rico for the benefits brought by the “Law to Encourage the Transfer of Individual Investors to Puerto Rico” or “Act 22.”
For Puerto Ricans on the island, this has been a polarized debate, as some argue that “Act 22” is beneficial for the island’s economic growth and others argue that it only increases displacement and inequality. At the end of said song a female voice is heard singing “Que se vaya ellos; This is my beach, this is my sun, and my land.”
Alluding to xenophobic language towards the Americans on the island. It is this same song that encompasses what has become the urban music: a liberation and expression tool where everything is valid and nothing is black or white. “El Apagón” not only alludes to the social and political problems of Puerto Rico, but also explicitly expresses Bad Bunny’s taste for the female genitalia of Puerto Rican women.
Salsa, dembow, Latin rap, and reggaeton have their beginnings in Africa—they lie in the eager rhythm of African slaves during their fight for freedom. In the 21st century they still have the same purpose. Near the coasts of Puerto Rico there is a struggle for the liberation of a slave people. In this example, music has been an inescapable agent for libertarian mobilizations.
In Cuba music is part of the splendor and charm of the island, as it is also an engine for the sense of patriotism and struggle. Jose Marti In his verses he expressed that “color has limits, the word: lips, the music: heaven. The true is what does not end and the music is perpetually throbbing in space.
Fidel Castro he fully understood the effect of music on Cuban society. As a strategy, the castro dictatorship he composed dozens of songs with the Cuban rhythms of salsa, guaguancó, rumba, and recently rap and reggaeton.
The Cuban exile also finds in music the expression of rejection of the communist regime. For years, Celia Cruz he wrote in his songs his longing to return to Cuba, something that Fidel Castro forbade him. Other notable figures are Gloria and Emilio Estefán who have dedicated their musical career to elevating Cuban culture and nostalgia, as well as Willy Chirino with “Our Day Is Already Arriving.”
The Castro dictatorship banned these artists for many years; its lyrics and rhythms create a sense of patriotism and change for a people already tired of “that living without living.” Obama’s opening in 2015 marked a new chapter not only in relations between Cuba and the United States, but also in the flow of information and content—an issue that “broke the dominoes” for the Castro regime.
In 2021, the song “Patria y Vida” marked a before and later in Cuban society, after 59 years of Homeland or Death, an urban song, rectifies a society already worn out by the socialist system. It is this same song that thousands of Cubans shouted on July 11, 2021.
It is important to note that urban music as a protest against the Castro dictatorship is not a new occurrence. You have to highlight the Aldeanos, Aldo Roberto Rodríguez Baquero (“Al2 El Aldeano”) and Bian Oscar Rodríguez Galá (“El B”), pillars of anti-Castro Cuban rap. B and Al2 are outside of Cuba and have careers as soloists.
During their time in Cuba they faced threats and sabotage from the Castro regime. If they are not yet prohibited from entering Cuba, if they decide to return they will face acts of repudiation and even violence, as happened to the rapper. Silvito “The Free” at the José Martí Airport in Havana.
Other notable figures are Silvito “El Libre” who is the son of the singer-songwriter and sympathizer of the Castro regime, Silvio Rodríguez and Maykel Osorbo. Two individuals who are deprived of expressing themselves freely in their art within Cuba. One is outside Cuba and another is in a dark cell in Pinar del Rio.
Said by the apostle José Martí, “the true is what does not end and the music is perpetually throbbing in space.” As much as the Castro regime tries to silence all that music that goes against the communist system, it remains throbbing in the blood of all those Cubans who fight for freedom.
*Angelica Franganillo graduated from Florida International University and is currently a journalism graduate student at Georgetown University
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