CNN: HOW HIP-HOP GIVES CUBANS A VOICE

We have very little understanding about the daily lives of Cubans from the outside.  The government has a tight grip on the media in the country and few people have been able to get the message out to the world.  But this is changing with the emergence of new music from the Island 90 miles from the Florida Keys. Cuban rap began to surface in the 1990s, a grassroots affair, with songs recorded in rappers’ bedrooms and distributed on cassette tapes. The government allowed it to continue because it felt it was a representation of Cuban culture. The island’s fledgling hip hop scene was given aWhat makes Cuban rappers different is that rather than celebrating bling, girls and guns, their lyrics address social issues.  Rappers, although highly monitored by the government, have a lot of creative freedom, they say, and they have written about life in Cuba, including the period right after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had devastating effects on Cuba.  Cuba’s rappers see their craft as a tool for social change.

Question to the Blogosphere:  Do you think access to Cuban hip-hop can increase the extent to which Americans humanize their neighbors to the South?  Why do you think the Cuban government premits this music, even when the lyrics describe hardship in the country?  What can the American music industry do to increase the exposure of this music in the United States to  increase common ground between the two countries?  Do you think this music and efforts to increase American awareness of life in Cuba will encourage the US to lift their embargo against Cuba?