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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
1/35
George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve andextend access to Anthropological Quarterly.
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Fear of a Black Nation: Local Rappers, Transnational Crossings, and State Power inContemporary CubaAuthor(s): Sujatha FernandesSource: Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 76, No. 4 (Autumn, 2003), pp. 575-608
Published by: George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic ResearchStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3318281Accessed: 30-01-2016 13:57 UTC
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
2/35
e a r
o
l a c k
N a t i o n
L o c a l
Rapper s
Transnational
Cross ings
a n d S t a t e
P o w e r
n
ontemporary
u b a
Sujatha
Fernandes
Princeton
University
Abstract:This
essayanalyzes
he
relationships
etween
culture,
power,
and
poli-
tics in
contemporary
Cuba
hrough
he lens of
hip-hop.
n
particular,
look
at
the
interactions
etween
Cuban
appers,
he Cuban ocialist
tate,
and diverse
ransna-
tional
networks n a moment of
economic
crisis,
ncreasing
acial
disparities,
nd
Cuba's
hanging
global
position.
The
essayexplores
how the
Cuban tate has har-
nessed he
energy
of the
growing
hip-hop
movementas a
way
of
bolstering
ts
pop-
ularity;
highlight
ormsof
appropriation
nd
collaboration etween
ransnational
cultural orms
and the nation-state hat
have
generally
been absent from
ac-
counts of
cultural
globalization.
But
I also
suggest
hat
Cuban
rappers'
articipa-
tion
in
transnational
etworks
llows
these
rappers
ome
autonomy
o
continue
promoting
messages
of racial
egalitarianism
nd to
develop
alternative trate-
gies
in
a moment of
declining
options
for black
youth.
[Keywords:
ace,
hip-hop,
Cuban
rappers,
ransnational
etworks,
tate
power,
cultural
resistance]
This
rticle
explores
he
ways
in
which
young
Afro-Cubans
ppropriate
ransna-
tional
imaginaries
n
order
to frame
local
political
demands and
strategies.
Transnational
ap
networks
onstitute
a
vehicle
through
which
Afro-Cuban
outh
575
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
3/35
Fear of a Black
Nation
negotiate
with
the
state and
build
strategies
or survival
n
the difficult ircum-
stancesof the contemporary specialperiod" of crisis.Attracted ythe blackna-
tionalist
politics
of
certain
African-American
appers
who
have
coined the
term
"underground"
r
"conscious"
ap,2
Cuban
rappers
offer
strong
criticisms f
ne-
oliberal
globalization
nd
they propose
he notionof Cuba
s a
black
nation
strug-
gling
for
justice
n an
inegalitarian
world
order.
But
rappers
lso
highlight
auses
of racial
ustice
withinCubaand
make
demands
forthe inclusion f
marginalized
sectors in
processes
of economic and
political
change.
Moreover,
iven
the
op-
portunitiespresentedbyincreased ourismanda limitedmarket conomy,some
rap
groups uggest
trategies
uch as
hustling
nd
consumerism hat
constitute
l-
ternative
ptions
or
black
youth
n a
period
of
crisis.
n
his
essay,
I
analyze
he re-
lationship
between
the diverse strands
of
the
Cuban
hip-hop3
movement,
transnational
orces,
and
the socialist
tate,
looking
at how
global
lowsof
culture
provide
a
means
for
contestationover
local
discourses
f
power
and race.
Scholars
of
culturalresistanceand
globalization
have
analyzed
he
potential
forpopularcultureand transnational ultural xchanges o challengedominant
formsof
power
by
building
and
sustaining
critical
pposition
Scott
1985, 1990;
Gilroy
987,
1996).
For
nstance,
Paul
Gilroy
ees the
contemporary
musical orms
of the
African
diaspora
as
building
paces
that can "meetthe
oppressivepower
of racial
capitalism"
Gilroy 996:365)
and
maintain"control
f
a
field
of
auton-
omy
or
independence
from the
system"
Gilroy
996:366).
But how can we un-
derstand he role of black
cultural
orms in a
context
where the
state has taken
on the projectof securing he autonomyof expressive ultures rom the market
(Garcia-Canclini
995),
and
where
popular
culture
producers
work from within
state
institutions? ome
anthropologists
Verdery
991,
Abu-Lughod
991,
Berdahl
1999)
have
begun
to
explore
the
ways
in which
culturalresistance s
enmeshed
in
historically
hanging
relationsof
power.
These theorists have
provided
so-
phisticated
accountsof the
many
levels
of
criticalresistance hat
exist
and
their
relationship
o formsof
power.By
addressing
he roleof
rap
music n
Cuba,
build
on the workof these scholars,demonstratinghow culturalproducersnegotiate,
subvert,
and
reproduce
spects
of
state
power
n the
contextof
a
socialist
ystem.
In
this
essay,
I
seek to trace the
complex
and
contradictory
orms
of
negoti-
ation,
accommodation,
and alliance between
rappers
and
the
state
in
the
spe-
cial
period.
On the
one
hand,
I
argue
that diverse
transnational
rap
networks
facilitate the
efforts
of
Afro-Cuban
outh
to
contest
emerging
racial hierar-
chies,
frame their demands
for social
justice,
and create alternative
strategies
for survival uch as hustlingand consumerism.Onthe otherhand,Isuggest hat
the
Cuban tate has
harnessed
he
oppositional
orce of
rap
music to maintain
576
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
4/35
SUJATHA
FERNANDES
its
hegemony
in
the
face
of
growing
racial
and economic
disparities
uring
a
pe-
riodof crisis.But,Iarguethatrappershavealso been ableto resist ome aspects
of state
cooptation
because
of their
participation
n
transnational
ap
networks
of African-American
ap
and
the
global
music
industry.
In
the firstsection of the
paper,
I
outline
the
dynamics
of race
in
Cuba,
he
changing
contours
of race relations
n
the contextof the
special
period,
and the
related
emergence
of
Cuban
rap
music.
I
look at
the
evolution of
distinct en-
dencies
in
Cuban
rap
that are
generally
associated
with the
US-derived ichoto-
myof "underground"nd "commercial"nd Iexplorehow these categoriesare
complicated
n
the contextof
Cuba.
The next section
explores
different
trategies
of culturalcontestation
in the
special
period.
These
strategies roughly
corre-
spond
to the blocs of
"underground"
nd "commercial"
ap:
hose
rappers
who
identify
as
underground
enerally
seek to
negotiate
with
the
state,
demanding
that it
fulfill ocialist dealsof racial
galitarianism,
while
rappers
who
identify
as
commercial
predominantly
voke alternativemeans of survival uch as
hustling
andconsumerism.n he third ection,I lookattheways nwhich he Cuban tate
appropriates
Cuban
rappers'
ounter-dominant
xpressions
o
fortify
ts
position
in a
new
global
context.
By
dentifying
he
interdependencies
between transna-
tional cultural orms
and
the
nation-state
Ong1999),
I
provide
new
insights
or
globalization
heory,
which has
tended
to
focus
exclusively
n the
ways
in which
nation-states re
receding
as
points
of
identification
Appadurai
990).
In
the
fi-
nal
section,
I
look
at
the
contradictory pace
of
Cuban
hip-hop,
which is both
shaped by,as it resists,capitalist onsumerism. show how a militantblackna-
tionalism oexistswith
strategies
f consumerism nd
I
argue
hat the
options
pro-
vided
by multiple
ransnationalnetworksallow
rappers
a
degree
of
autonomy
that was not
possible
or earlier
musical
nnovations.
Inthe
absence of
any
organized
political
movementsor formsof
association
among
Afro-Cuban
outh,
Cuban
rap
provides
an
avenue
of
expression
and
cul-
tural resistance
n
Cuban
ociety.
In
this
historical,
thnographic,
and
semiotic
studyof Cubanrapmusic, I seek to examine how rapmusicianshave opened
dialogue
with
the state about
issues of race
during
he
special period
and how
the state in
turn
has
exerted
influence over
the
direction,
strategies,
and
poli-
tics of the
Cuban
hip-hop
movement.
The
Context
and
Emergence
of Cuban
Rap
Cubanrap,as a uniquemusicaland poeticgenre,distinct rom bothCubanoral
traditions4
and American
rap,
began
to
develop
in the
mid-ninetiesand cur-
577
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
5/35
Fear of
a
Black Nation
rentlycomprises
a
fairly
broad
and diverse movement
that
spans
from the ur-
banareas of Havana o the easterntowns of Santiagode Cuba.For he first ive
years
of its
evolution
in
Cuba
up
until
1991,
hip-hop
culture was
produced
and consumed
within the
specific
social
context of the local
community
or
neighborhood.
At
parties,
people
would
play
music
rom
compact
discsthat had
been
brought
from the
US,
or music recorded
from Miami
radio,
and
they
would
pass
on
recorded
cassettes from
hand to
hand. The
period
from 1991 to
the
present
has
involved the institutionalization
and commercialization
of
Cubanhip-hopculture n severaldifferentways.Asthe art form hasdeveloped
its
own Cuban
tyle,
as
it has become
distinctly
more
complex,
and as it has
be-
gun
to
garner large
levels of
support among
Cuban
youth, rap
music has
si-
multaneously
become intertwined
with
Cuban
tate
institutions,
ransnational
record
companies,
and
hip-hop
movements
in the
US.
Here
I
explore
the
con-
ditions
that have
given
riseto
the
"rapper"
s a social
category
and I
identify
he
ways
in which Cuban
rap
musicians
nterpret
and recontextualize
ategories
of
"underground"nd "commercial"hat derive from the context of American
hip-hop.
Fromcertain
social,
historical,
and institutional
ocations
emerge
the
commitments and
solidarities
hat are crucial
to the
framing
of
political
de-
mands and the articulationof desire
in
Cuban
rap.
Rap
music
in
Cuba
s
shaped
by
a
highly
specific
set of social and econom-
ic
conditions,
including
he
demographic
restructuring
f the urban
metropo-
lis and
increasing
racial
inequalities
in the
special period. Rap
music and
hip-hopculturegrewrapidly n relocativehousingprojects uch as Alamarand
other areas of
high
density
housing,
occupied by mainly
black,
working
class
communities such as
Old
Havana,
Central
Havana,
Sancto
Suarez,
and
Playa.
Until he
collapse
of the
Soviet
Union,
blackand
working
class communities
in
Cubawere
relatively
protected
from neoliberal
processes
of economic restruc-
turing.
However,
he
crisis
of
the
special
period
forced
the
Cuban
government
to
adopt policies
of
austerity
in
order to increase the
competitiveness
of the
Cubaneconomy in the global economy. Althoughpoliciesof austerityand re-
structuring
have
affected Cuban
society
as
a
whole,
Alejandro
de
la
Fuente
(2001) argues
that
there have also been various
racially
differentiatedeffects.
The
legalization
of dollars has
divided
Cuban
society
according
o those who
have access
to
dollars
and
those who do not.
Family
remittancesare the most
important
source
of hard
currency
or most
Cubans,
and since the
majority
of
Cubans
n the
diaspora
tend to be
white,
it
is
white
Cuban
amilies
who bene-
fit most fromremittances Dela Fuente2001:319).Otheroptionsof survival n
the
special
period,
such as
opening paladares,
or
family-run
estaurants,
re
al-
578
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
6/35
SUJATHA
FERNANDES
so
less available
to
blacks
who tend to
be based
in more
densely populated
housingand do not have the space to carryout entrepreneurialactivities(De
la
Fuente
2001:321).
De
la
Fuente
(2001:326)
also
argues
that racial
prejudice
has become
increasingly
isible and
acceptable
in the
special period.
It
is not within the
scope
of this
article
to
give
a
detailed historicalaccount
of race relations n Cuba.
However,
ome
background
s
necessary
o
understand
the
changes
in the
contemporary
period.
Race relations
n
Cubadiffer
consid-
erably
from
experiences
of race in the
NorthAmericancontext.
In his work
on
race inColumbia,PeterWade 1993)points o two processes hatdefinerace re-
lations in
LatinAmerican
and Caribbeancountries. On the one
hand,
Latin
American nationalist
and
revolutionary
eaders
in
countries
with
significant
black
populations,
such as
Colombia,Cuba,
and
Brazil,
have
held
up
an
image
of
the mestizo
or
mixed
race
nation,
where nation
subsumes
race as
the main
form of identification.
To
talk
of "Blacks"
r
"race"
n
LatinAmerica s
prob-
lematic
because race relationshave
not
been
historically
perceived
as
primary
markersof identity.Onthe other hand, blacksin LatinAmericahave not be-
come
dispersed
nto
the
largercommunity,
but
they
maintaindistinct
practices
of
congregation
and
cultural
orms.
According
o Wade
(1993:3),
race in Latin
America s
characterized
by
a
complex
interweaving
of
patterns
of
discrimina-
tion and
tolerance,
which cannot be
understood
by
reference o forms
of racial
identity
in
the North
Americancontext.
De
la
Fuente
(2001:335)
corroborates
this
account of the
contradictory
natureof race relations
n
Cuba,
arguing
hat
while discoursesof racial raternityminimizedclaims forjustice by blackpop-
ulations,
the
more
fluid
understanding
of race that such
discoursesmade
pos-
sible also
opened
avenues
for
the
participation
f blacks n
mainstream
ultural
life.
But,
it
is
particularly
n
contexts of
crisissuch as
special period
Cuba
hat
racial
nequalities,
stereotypes,
and
prejudices
reemerge
in
ways
that
promote
racial
onflictand restrict
he
optionsopen
to blacks or
work
and advancement.
In
a
period
of
increasing
racial ensions
and racial
nequalities,
Afro-Cubans
find themselves deprivedof a politicalvoice. Drawingon discoursesof racial
democracy,
he
Cuban
revolutionaryeadershipattempted
to
eliminate racism
by
creating
a
color-blind
society,
where
equality
between blacks and whites
would render he need for racial
dentifications
obsolete. While
desegregating
schools,
parks,
and recreational
acilities,
and
offeringhousing,
education,
and
health care
to the black
population,
he
revolutionaryeadership
imultaneously
closed down
Afro-Cubanlubs and the
black
press
(De
la
Fuente
2001:280).
De
la Fuente(2001:329)sees the possibility or raciallybased mobilizationemerg-
ing
fromthe
contradictions
f the current
pecialperiod:
"The
revival
of
racism
579
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
7/35
Fear of a Black
Nation
and
raciallydiscriminatory
ractices
under the
special period
has led to
grow-
ing resentmentand resistance nthe blackpopulation,whichsuddenlyfinds it-
self in a hostileenvironment
without
he
political
nd
organization
ools
needed
to
fight against
it." Afro-Cuban
eligious
forms such
as
santerra
and
abacud
have
begun
to
gain
popularsupport
n
this
period,
but
rap
music
has taken
on
a more
politically
assertive
and
radical stance as
the
voice
of black
Cuban
youth.
Although
some older black Cubanscannot relate to the militantasser-
tion of black
identity
in
Cuban
rap,
it is
becoming increasingly
relevant to
Cuba'syouth, who did not live throughthe early periodof revolutionaryri-
umph
and are
hardest
hit
by
the
failureof
the institutions
stablished
under
he
revolution o
provide
racial
equality
in
the
special
period.
Cuban
rap
has
emerged
from a
local,
grass
roots
phenomenon
to a state-
sponsored
genre
with
multiple
transnationalconnections.
During
he
1990s,
the
Cubanstate
began
to
provide
nstitutionalresources or the
promotion
of
Cuban
rap.
In
1991,
there were
organized
concerts
or
pehfas
n
the
Casasde
la
CulturaCultural enters) f M6nacoand 10 de Octubre.Aradioprogram alled
La
Esquina
de
Rap
(Rap
Corner) egan
on Radio
Metropolitana
nd there was a
space
on televisionwhich
started
promoting
nternational
ap
artists
Fernandez
2000a).
In
summer
1992,
the
Asociacidn
Hermanos
Saiz
(Brothers
Saiz
Organization,AHS),
he
youth
cultural
wing
of the
official mass
organization
of
Cuban
youth,
Union
dejovenes
Cubanos
Union
of Cuban
Youth,
UJC)
reateda
space
for
rap
in La
Piragua,
large
open
air
stage
by
the
Malecon.
In
1994 this
space ceased to existand the movementbeganto dissipate,untilDJAdalberto
created
a
space
in
the
"local"
of Carlos
III
and
Infanta.
Rap producer,
Ariel
Fernandez
2000a),
says
that
up
until this moment
there was no real move-
ment of
rappers,only
individuals
mprovising
or
"freestyling."
rom
he local
emerged
the
pioneers
of
Cuban
rap:
SBS,
Primera
Base,
Triple
A,
Al
Corte,
and
Amenaza.
An
association
of
rappers
alled
Grupo
Uno
(GroupOne),
relatively
u-
tonomous from
AHS,
was
created
by
a
promoter
knownas
Redolfo
Rensoli,
and
this networkwent on to organize he first estivalof rapinJune1995.
North American
rap
music
is
the
original
source of
Cuban
rap
music,
and
from
the
early days
Cuban
rappers
have
maintained close ties with
rappers
n
the
US. Whilethe
early
waves of
hip-hop
music to
come to
Cubawere
more
commercial,
by
the time of the
first
rap
festival in
1995,
Cubans
were
hearing
African-American
conscious"
ap
music. The
visits of these
African-American
rappers
were crucial o
the
formationof
Cuban
hip-hop,
particularly
hrough
a
networkknown as the "BlackAugust Hip-HopCollective."BlackAugustwas a
network
established
during
the 1970s in
the California
rison
system
as a
way
580
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
8/35
SUJATHA
FERNANDES
of
linking
up
movements
for resistance
n
the Americasand the
hip-hop
col-
lective seeks to drawconnections between radicalblackactivismand hip-hop
culture.
In
their statement
of
purpose,
the
collective
defines
their
goals
as
"to
support
he
global
development
of
hip-hop
culture
by
facilitating
xchanges
be-
tween international ommunities
where
hip-hop
s a vital
part
of
youth
culture,
and
by promoting
awareness about the
social and
political
ssues
that effect
[sic]
hese
youth
communities."Black
August
concerts
held
in New York
aised
money
for the
Cuban
hip-hop
movement,
including unding
for
an
annual
hip-
hop concert,attended byAmericanrappers.
Like
he African-Americanctivistswho visited Cuba
during
the 1960s
and
1970s
from
Stokely
Carmichael
hrough
to
Angela
Davis and
Assata
Shakur,
who is
currently
in
exile
in
Cuba,
African-American
appers
such as
Paris,
Common
Sense,
Mos
Def and
TalibKweli
poke
a
language
of black
militancy
that was
appealing
o Cuban
youth.
While
a
black
radical
uch
as Marcus
Garvey
enjoyed
little
support
among
Afro-Cubans
n the
1920s
(Fernandez
Robaina
1998:125),the black nationalistaspirationsof African-Americanappershave
been received with
considerably
more enthusiasm
by
a
population
of
Afro-
Cuban
youth
increasingly eeling
the
effects
of racialdiscrimination n Cuba's
special
period.
An
analysis
of the
ways
in
which
"underground"
ip-hop
music
promotes
and
extends identificationsbased
on race has been
mostly
absent
from
important
scholarly
attempts
to
address
global
hip-hop.
In his
introduc-
tion to
a
volume
on
rap
and
hip-hop
outside the
US,
Tony
Mitchell
2001:2)
ar-
gues that global hip-hop movements are disconnected from what he
homogeneously
describes
as an
"increasinglytrophied,
cliched,
and
repetitive"
African-American
ip-hop
culture
and most of the cases in the volume
focus on
non-Black
appropriations
of
hip-hop.5
But in countries such as
Cuba, Brazil,
Columbia,
and
Venezuela,
as well as
in
several African
countries,
such as
Senegal,
South
Africa,
nd
Mali,
African
nd
Afro-Diasporic
ommunities draw
on
African-American
ap
music to address local
issues
of race and
marginality,
howeverdifferently hose relationshipsmaybe constituted.Theimportanceof
transnational
lows
based
on
race,
particularly
s
promoted
by
the more black
nationalist African-American
appers,
must be viewed somewhat
independ-
ently
of
global
cultural
lows relatedto the
popular
music
industry.
Nevertheless,
he
global
market,
via multinational
ecord
companies,
has al-
so
been
an
important
avenue of transnational
participation
n Cuban
hip-hop.
While
hip-hop
n the
USstartedas
an
urban
underground
movement,
it
is
now
a majorcommercialproduct,distributedbyfive of the largestmultinationalmu-
sic labels
ncluding
Universal,
ony,
BMG, MI,
nd
WEA
Valdds002).
Records
re
581
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
9/35
Fear of
a
Black Nation
judged
by
their Sound-Scan
umbers,
or the numberof records
hey
sell in
the
firstweek, and in terms of the industry,t is sales that count more than artistic
quality,
reativity,
r
political
message.
According
o
Mimi
Valdes
2002),
n
North
American
hip-hop,rappers
who are
getting
the
airplay,
ideos,
and record
ales
are those
who
have embraced he
"bling-bling
ormula,"
sing
he
imagery
f
ex-
pensive
cars,
clothes and exorbitant
ifestyles
as
a
demonstration
of the new
wealth
of
the
hip-hop
generation.
Inthe Cuban
ontext,
he
multinational abels
with
their
promises
of
videos, discs,
and
large
contracts
are
tempting
to
Cuban
rapperswhose resources re scarce.At imessigninga dealmaymeanleavinghe
country,
uch as
happened
with
the Cuban
rap
group
Orishas,
who
signed
with
the
transnational
ecord
company
EMI
nd
currently
eside
n
France.
Cuban
rap
has
been influenced
by
these
diverse
networks of African-
American
rap
and transnational record
companies.
Fernandez
(2002:43)
ar-
gues
that
the movement
of Cuban
hip-hop
is
divided
by
a
major polemic
between those who see
themselves
as
"underground"
nd those who see them-
selvesas "commercial." e describes"underground"roupsas having wo main
qualities:
irst,
"they
maintainan
orthodoxand
radical tance
along
the
lines
of
the
origins
of the
genre
and
they
distance themselves
from
whatever
possibil-
ity
of fusion for its
commercialization;"
nd
second,
"they
ocus much more on
an
integration
f
politically
ommitted
yrics
with the social context"
Fernandez
2002:43).
"Commercial"
roups
are those
who,
"incorporate
popular
Cuban
rhythms
n
orderto be more
accepted,
achieve
authenticity,
nd become com-
mercially iable" Fernandez 002:43).Inthe contextof Cuba,"commercial"ap
groups
are
defined
somewhat
by
their
ability
to reach
larger
audiences. While
most
"underground"
ap
music is limitedto small
pehfas
nd
shows,
the
biggest
gathering being
the annual
rap
festival
attended
by
up
to
5,000
youth
in
the
large
stadium
at
Alamar,
a "commercial"
roup
such as Orishas
have reached
the
broader
Cuban
public,
and the
sounds
of their
latest disc
entitled
A
Lo
Cubano
can
be heard in
discos,
private
homes,
and
parties,
as well as
blaring
from carsand on the street.
Categories
of
"underground"
nd "commercial"have
some resonance
in
the
context of
Cubabecause
they
reflect real
contests
over
access to
resources
and
diverging deologicalpositions.
Forsome
Cuban
rap groups
who
self-iden-
tify
as
"underground,"
here is
hostility
owards hose
groups
who
attract
oreign
funding
and
attention because
they
are
willing
to dilute
their
political
stance.
In
their
song
El
Barco
TheBoat),
Los
Paisanos riticize
he more
commercial
ap-
perswho are funded becausethey have compromised heir politicsand dedi-
cation to the
purity
of
rap:
"thosewithout shame
who
say
they
are
rappers,
but
582
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
10/35
SUJATHA
FERNANDES
who
are
patronized
because of
their mixture
of
rhythm."
The
rapper
vents his
anger againstthose who choose the commercialpath:"I hoot wordsat them,
I
don't kill
them,
but
I
detest them and
I
don't silence the
truth,
but
I
bring
it
to the text."The
group
Los
Paisanos,
which
started
off with three
members,
ost
one member who left the
group
for a
foreign
deal
to make more
commercial
sounding
rap
mixed
with
salsa,
forsaking
both
the
group
and
his
participation
in the
hip-hop
movement.
Groups
uch as
Orishas,
now
generally
seen
as
commercialbecause of
their
mainstreamsuccess both in Cubaand abroad,and because of the natureof
their
lyrics,
were
previouslypart
of
a
group
called Amenaza hat was central o
the
evolution
of the
Cuban
hip-hop
movement
and
which
did address
local is-
sues
of
race.
Although
Orishasmaintain close ties
with
Cuban
rappers,
and
have
spoken
about
returning
o Cuba
o work
with
the
hip-hop
movement,
they
are also
viewed
with
a
degree
of
contempt by
some Cuban
appers
who feel that
Orishas
have abandoned
their earlier
political
tance and "soldout."Cuban"un-
derground" appersarecriticalof the unqualifiedcelebrationof consumerism
in the
lyrics
of commercial
rap
groups
such
as Orishas
because
of what
they per-
ceive as
interventions nto Cuban
hip-hop by
foreign
music labels
who
seek
to
sell Cuba o western
audiences
through
stereotypical
mages
of
rum, tobacco,
and mulattawomen. Some Cuban
rappers
who
identify
as
"underground"
eel
that
those
groups
who
relinquish
heir hard
core
politics
and
purity
of
form
to
attain commercial
success are
compromising
he values and the orientationof
the movement.
But even
though
some
Cuban
rappersmay self-identify
as
"underground"
or
"commercial,"
hese labels
cannot be
applied unproblematically
in the
Cubancontext. Whilethe
distinction between
"underground"
nd "commer-
cial"
n
the
USderives from a
perception
of
authenticity
and commercial
suc-
cess
as
diametric
opposites,
Cubancultural
producers
are often attributedan
automatic
authenticity
or
"underground"
tatus
by
their American
counter-
parts,particularlyivenCuba'smageas a successfulrevolutionary overnment
among
sections of the African-American
ommunity
Gosse
1998:266).
At
times,
Cuban
rappers
hemselves
acknowledge
that
the
distinction is somewhat
less
relevant
in
Cuba han in the
US.
In a
song
called
"I
don't
criticize
what
is com-
mercial,"
apperPapo
Record
uggests
that
underground
and commercialare
all
the same in
Cubabecause there is no market.The
label of
"commercial"
s
also somewhat of a
misnomer
because
not all
groups
that
mix
salsa
and oth-
er instrumental orms withraparefunded byrecordcompanies,some justen-
joy
those
styles.
In
Cuba,
he
dichotomy
between
authenticity
and success is
583
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
11/35
Fear of a
Black Nation
further
complicated by
state
promotion
of
"underground"
ap.
Due
to
the
structureof culturalproductionwithinCuba,Cubanrapperswho maintain a
political
orientation
are more
likely
o receivestate
sponsorship
han the com-
mercial
rappers,disrupting
he association of
"underground"
ith
exclusion
from the
mainstream.
Despite
the
problems
associatedwith
applying
he
labels of
"underground"
and
"commercial"n the context of
Cuba,
it
remains that Cuban
rappers
do
identify
with
these.
In
the
following
section,
I
suggest
that
strategies
of
cultur-
al resistance oughly orrespondo these different endencieswithinCubanrap,
although,
as
argued
in the last
section
of the
essay,
the boundaries between
them remain
permeable.
Strategies
of Cultural
Contestation
in
Cuban
Rap
RacialEgalitarianismn the SpecialPeriod
Afro-Cuban
outh
have used
rap
music
as a means of
contesting
acialhierarchies
and
demanding
social
ustice.Gilroy
1993:83)
ees
the
transference
f
blackcul-
tural
orms
such
as
hip-hop
as
related
partly
o its
"inescapably olitical
anguage
of
citizenship,
racial
ustice,
and
equality,"
discourse hat
speaks
to the reali-
ties
and
aspirations
of black
youth
globally.Through
heir
texts,
performances,
and
styles,
Cuban
rappers
demand
the
inclusion
of
young
Afro-Cubansnto the
polityand they appeal to the state to liveup to the value of egalitarianism n-
shrined in
traditional ocialist
ideology.
Cuban
rappers,particularly
hose who
identify
as
"underground,"
oint
out the race blindnessof
officialdiscourse
and
the
invisibility
f the
experiences
and
problems
of
marginalized
ommunities n
a
society
hat has
supposedly
"solved"
uestions
of race.Given he lack
of forums
for
young
Afro-Cubanso
voice their
concerns,
rap
music
provides
an
avenue for
contestation
and
negotiation
within
Cuban
ociety.
Rapperscriticizethe politicalleadershipfor ignoringquestions of race in
Cuban
ociety by
declaring
he eradication f
racism.As De
la
Fuente
2001:266)
explains,
while in the
early years
after
the
revolution
Fidel Castro
alled
for a
public
debate
about racism
involving
several
specially organized
conferences
and
targeted
campaigns,
by
1962 all
discussionof the
race
question
had been
silenced,
except
to
praise
Cuba's
achievements.
Because
the
revolution
had
supposedly
resolved all
questions
of
institutional
discrimination,
t
was
con-
sideredunpatriotico speakof race,or to identifyoneself in racial erms,rather
than as
just
a
Cuban.In
their
song
entitled
Mambi,
an
identificationwith the
584
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
12/35
SUJATHA
FERNANDES
mambises
or Afro-Cuban
ighters
in
the
war of
independence
with
Spain,
Obsesi6nrefer o the rhetoricwhich masksthe silencingof questionsof race:
Those
winds
brought
hese
storms,
It
resultedhis
way
suddenly)
my
race
had
a mountain f
qualities,
and
many
went
n
masses
o
pass
a
coursenhownot o beracist,
they
graduated
ith
high
honors,
and
up
until
oday hey
remain
idden
behind his
phrase:
WEARE LL
QUAL,
WEARE LL
UMANEINGS
Aqullos
vientos
rajeron
stas
empestades,
resulta
'
asf
depronto)
un
mont6n e cualidades
ayo
encima e
mi
raza,
y muchosfueron
n masa
a
pasar
un
curso ec6mono serracistas
se
graduaron
onhonores
fiestas
y
hasta
l
sol
de
hoypermanecen
scondidos
en
la
frase
sta:
SOMOS
GUALES
TODOSOSERES
UMANOS
Obsesi6nsuggestthat blackswent frombeingat the bottom of the socialhi-
erarchy
n
pre-revolutionary
Cuba
o
having
"a
mountain
of
qualities"
due to
their role
as the new social
subjects
of
the revolution.
However,
Obsesi6n
sug-
gest
that white
revolutionaries
paid
lip
service
to
anti-racist
deals,
going
"in
masses
to
pass
a course
in
how
not
to be
racist,"
ather
han
engaging
with the
reality
of racism
in
Cuban
society.
The
song
depicts
the
self-congratulatory
manner of
revolutionaries
who
proclaim
the eradication of racism even as
racial ensions and hierarchies ontinueto exist.
The
resurgence
of
racism
n the
special period
is
presented
in
striking
con-
trast
to
the
post-revolutionary uphoria
of Afro-Cubans
ho
saw
in
the Cuban
revolution he
possibilities
of an
end
to racial
discrimination.
n
a
poem
writ-
ten
in
1964
by
celebrated Afro-Cuban
oet
Nicolas Guillen entitled
Tengo
(I
have),
the
poet
lists the
changes
that
the
revolution
has
brought
or
blacks:
Ihave, et'ssee,
that
I
have
earnt
o
read,
to
count,
I
have hat
I
have
earnt
o
write
and to think
and
to
laugh.
I
have
hat
I
have
a place owork
and earn
Tengo,amos ver,
que
ya
aprendf
leer,
a
contar,
tengoqueya
aprendf
escribir
y
a
pensar
y
a
reir.
Tengo ueya tengo
donde rabajar
y
ganar
585
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
13/35
Fear of a
Black Nation
what
I
need
to
eat.
Ihave, et'ssee,
I have
what
was
coming
o me.
lo
que
me
tengoque
comer.
Tengo,amos ver,
tengo
o
que
ten(a
que
tener
Borrowing
he title and format of
the
Guillen
poem,
Hermanosde Causade-
scribe
the situation or
young
Afro-Cubans
n the
contemporary pecial period:
I
havea dark nddiscriminated
ace,
Ihavea workday hatdemands nd
givesnothing
I have
o
many hings
hatI
cannot
even ouch
I
have o
many
esourceshat
I
cannot
even
step
on
I
have
iberty
etween
parentheses
f iron
Ihave o manybenefitswithout ights
that I
imprison
myself
I
have o
many
hings
without
having
what
I
had.
Tengo
naraza
oscura,
discriminada
tengouna ornada, uemeexige o da
nada
tengo
antas osas
que
no
puedo
ni
tocarlas
tengo
nstalaciones
ue
no
puedo
ni
pisarlas
tengo
ibertadntre
arentesis
e hierro
tengoantos rovechosinderechos'a mf
encierro
tengo
antas osas intener
o
que
he
tenido.
When
they
state
that
"I
have so
many
things"
and
"I
have so
many
resources,"
Hermanos
de Causaare
referring
o the claims of the
political
eadership
hat
the revolutionhas providedso much for Afro-Cubansn terms of health,edu-
cation
and
welfare,
but
yet
the
rapper
doesn't
see them. The revolution has
fought
for a nation
liberated
rom
American
neo-colonialism,
et
this
liberty
an
only
be
exercised
within
severe
constraints,
or
"parentheses
f
iron."While he
revolution has
given
so
many
benefits to
young
Afro-Cubans,
hese
are be-
stowed
patronizingly,
without
any
recognition
of their
rights.
In
contrast to
Guillen's
ptimism,
"I
have
what was
coming
to
me,"
Hermanos
de Causa tate
that "Ihave what I have without havingwhat I had:"while the revolutionhas
brought
material
benefits and
opportunities
o
young,
black
people
it has tak-
en
away
their
rights
o
speak
out an a
minority.
As the
group
Junior
Clan
pose
the
question:
"For
blacks
I
keep
asking
the
question,
where is
your
voice?"
Cuban
rap
musicians
use their
lyrics,style,
and
performance
o
play
with
stereotypes
of blacksas
delinquents
and
criminals.
According
o
de
la
Fuente
(1998:5),
racialized
notions of
proper
conduct have
continued to be
enforced
bythe law,withpeligrosidadocial or "socialdangerousness"tillpunishableby
law.
Rappers
appropriate
hese
dominant
stereotypes,
employing
a
posture
of
586
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
14/35
SUJATHA
FERNANDES
aggression
o
turn
fears
of
the "urbanblack hreat"back
upon
those who have
created such mythsand stereotypes.Fernandezdescribedin a personalinter-
view
how the militant
pose
of the
rapper
s a
part
of their
performance:
You can see a
rapperscreaming
with an
ugly,
bad
face,
but this is their
artistic
pose
for
singing.
If
you
are
singing
about
something
that
is
not
good,
you
don't
sing
with a
smile,
in no
part
of
the world.
Inthe moment
of
performance,rappers project
this
strong,
serious,
energetic,
violent,
and machistic mage.
This
posture
s
also a
mechanism
of
defense
against
he
reality
of life in
mar-
ginalized
communities. As
TrishaRose
(1994:12)argues,
"the
ghetto
badman
posture-performance
s
a
protective
hell
against
real
unyielding
and harshso-
cial
policies
and
physical
environments."
Although
he kind of harsh environ-
ment
of the NorthAmerican
ghettoes
as
described
by
Rose
does
not
exist
in
Cuba,Afro-Cubanommunitieshave been subjectto forms of policing hat be-
come more severe in
times
of
crisis.The
adoption
of
aggressive
postures
serves
as
a
form
of
self-defense,
particularly
when
young
blackCubansare
being
con-
stantly
harassed
by police,
and
when
they
are viewed
by
broaderCuban ocie-
ty
as criminalsand
drug
dealers.
Rap
musicians
employ
a
direct
style
that addresses he
authorities,
he
state,
or those in
positions
of
power.
Cuban
"underground"
appers challenge
as-
pects of police harassmentand the silencingof dissent bythe Cubanstate. In
the
song
A Veces
AtTimes),
Anonimo
Consejo
draw
a
picture
of
corruption,
l-
licit
drug trading
and
prostitution.
However,
reversing
tereotypes
about mar-
ginalized
communities,
he
rapper
ocates
the
sourcesof these
problems
n the
government:
Guys
with
money
are
trafficking
n
their
offices,
they
shout"We
esist,"
nd
they
drive
around
n
fancy
cars
day
and
night,
robbing
he
public
ike he
scorpion
er
brood
Los
ipos
on
"money"rafican
n sus
oficinas,
gritan
"resistimos"
andan
en carro
oche
y
dia,
robdndole
l
pueblo
omo
el alacrdn su
cria
The
rapper
rendersthe
police
and the
officials
criminals,
n
an
attempt
to
destabilize their moralauthority.Whilethe police targetpoor,blackcommu-
nities for crimes
such as
drug dealing
and
theft,
the
rapper
shows that
they
587
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
15/35
Fear of a Black
Nation
themselves are
engaged
in
these activities.He
points
to
the
hypocrisy
of
gov-
ernment officialswho use revolutionaryrhetoric of resistance,but actually
separate
themselves off from the
public
in their
fancy
offices
and cars.
Cliente
Supremo
challenge
the
futile
practice
of
asking
or
identity
cards,
asking,
"In
re-
ality
what will become of
me
when
my youth
is
gone?
Will
I
have to be
worried
about
my personal
documents
like
you
all? What
ID?Forwhat?"Los
Paisanos
also talk about
police
harassment
of
young,
blackCubans
n their
song
El
Barco
(The
Boat),
and the
ways
in which
they
are
constantlyquestioned by
the
police
and asked to producean identitycard.When he policethreatenthe rapper,he
shouts "seremos omo el Che"
we
will be like
Che).
The
rapperrepeats
this
slo-
gan,
recited
daily
by
children
n
daycare
centers
and
schools,
partly
as a
way
of
invoking
he
youthful
rebelliousness
of the
revolution's
ounding martyr
and
partly
as
a
way
of
inoculating
himself
against
reprisal.
An6nimo Consejo
draw links between a
history
of
exploitation
and
a
pres-
ent
of
racial
nequality.
According
o
Gilroy
1996:363),
one of the
core
themes
of African iasporicmusical orms shistory, concernwhich"demands hatthe
experience
of
slavery
is
also
recovered and rendered vivid
and immediate."
Slavery
becomes a
metaphor
for
contemporary
njustice
and
exploitation.
InA
Veces,
Anonimo
Consejo
connect the
history
of Cuban
laves
with the
situation
of
contemporary
Afro-Cubans.
he
rapper
begins
with his
geographical
ocation,
he
identifies himself as "el
Cubano del
Oriente,"
s a
Cuban from
the
East,
which is
a
province
considered less
cultured
than
Havana. He is
lying
in his
"poorbed" hinkingaboutslaveryand the struggleof blackpeople in hiscoun-
try,
when the
similaritiesof the
present
situation occur to
him:
You hink
t'snot the same
today,
an
official ells
me,
'You an't
go
there,
much ess leave his
place'
In
contrast
hey
treat
ourists
ifferently,
People,s itpossiblehat inmycountry
I
don't
count?
Hoy
parece ue
no
es
as,
el
oficial
me
dice
a
mi,
'No
puede
estar
lld,
muchomenos
salir
de
aqu,'
En
cambio
l
turista e
la
trata
diferente,
Serdposible entequeenmipatsyono
cuente?
The
rapper
uses the
critique
of racial
hierarchies n the
past
as a
way
of iden-
tifyingcontemporary
acial
ssuessuch as
police
harassment f
young
black
peo-
ple
and
the
preferential
reatment
given
to tourists
over
Cubans
by
officials.He
identifies
himselfas
"thedescendentof
an
African,"
s a
cimarron
esobediente,
or disobedient,runaway lave,drawinghis links o an ancestralpast,rooted in
a
history
of
slavery
and
oppression.
588
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
16/35
SUJATHA
FERNANDES
The
open
treatmentof issues
of
race
in
Cuban
"underground"
ap
music
pro-
vides a challengeto the race blindnessof official discourseand claimsbythe
political leadership
hat racismno
longer
exists
in
Cuban
society.
In an
article
appearing
in
an
official
organ
of
the
state,
El
Habanero,
columnist
Tony
Pita
(1999)
cautioned,
"beware,
he
songs
that deal
with race could turn
into
a dou-
ble
edged
sword,
and we
will
start
encouraging
he recurrent
bsession of cre-
ating
a small
'ghetto'
when
actually
the road is
free
of
obstacles."
Just
as the
early post-revolutionary
eadership
was worried
about what it considered
the
"divisive"ffectsof racialpolitics Moore1988:259),one of the officialresponses
to
rap
music
has also been
a
concern with its
racially
based identifications nd
the
potential
for mobilization
along
race
lines. Afro-Cuban
outh
use
rap
mu-
sic as
a
way
of
asserting
their
voice and
presence,
in contrastto
attempts by
state
officials o
play
down the salience of race in Cuban
ociety.
Hustling,
Consumerism,
nd
Morality
Whilesome rappers,mainlythose who identifyas "underground,"ppropriate
hip-hop
as a
way
of
framing
heir demands
for
racial
equality
and social
justice,
challenging
acial
tereotypes,
and
exploring
he
effects
of
slavery,
ther
rappers
promote
alternative
strategies
for
survival
and
resistance based on
hustling
and
consumerism,
particularly
n
a context of
declining
employment opportu-
nitiesfor black
youth
and
increasing
ccessto
a
market
conomy.
In
this
section,
I
explore
how
these latter
groups, generally
identified as
"commercial,"
hal-
lenge conventional moral standards and create new spaces for expression
based
on
hustling
and consumerism.
Within
more
commercially
oriented
rap
music,
the
practice
of
hustling
has
been
presented
as a
political
strategy
to
get
by
in
the
special period.
Hustling
has become
particularly opular
among
unemployed
black
youth,
who havethe
time to
devote
to
the
task
and are also
being
pushed
into such activities
by
eco-
nomic need.
In
the difficulties
f
the
special period,
hose with
access
to
dollars
are usuallyCubanswho havefamilyin Miamiand receiveremittances,gener-
ally
white Cubans nd those who have been able to receivework n the new dol-
lar
economy,
such
as
party
members
with
good
revolutionary
redentialswho
are
given
employment
in the mixed
firms
or the
tourist
industry.
For
young,
black
youth
who
fit
neither
of these
categories,
and are even
on
the
margins
of
the
regular
workforce,
survivalcan be difficult.The
special period
has seen
the
reemergence
of activities such as
hustling,
one of the main
ones
being
jineterismo.This s a practicewhereby ineteros translates s "jockeys"utused
to referredto street
hustlers)
earn
an
income
and
acquire
consumer
goods
589
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
17/35
Fear
of
a Black Nation
through
their
contact
with
foreigners,
either
befriending
hem or
engaging
in
a romanticor sexual relationshipwith them.7 In contrastto the $7 - $15 per
month
possible by
working
ull-time
in a
government
ob,
a
jinetero
can
make
between
$40
and
$80
per day by
helping
out
a
tourists. Robin
Kelley
1997:75)
has
explored
the
ways
in which
marginalized
African-American
outh,
facing
high
rates
of
joblessness
or
the
prospect
of
low-wage
service
work,
remake
he
realmof
consumption
nto a
site
of
production,blurring
he
distinction
between
"play"
and
"work" hat is characteristicof
wage
work under late
capitalism.
Similarly, or some Afro-Cuban outh faced with decliningopportunitiesfor
earning
an
income
in
socialist
Cuba,
play
becomes
a
creative
trategy
of
survival.
One of the main
rap
groups
that addresses
practices
of
jineterismo
and
con-
sumerism
s
Orishas.
n
the
song
Atrevido
Daring),
Orishas
ell
the
story
of a
cou-
ple
who
manage
to take
advantage
of touristsas
a
way
of
bringing
hemselves
out
of
rural
poverty.
The
song
begins by describing
he situationof the
poor
cou-
ple
in
the
countryside:
Once
upon
a timea
deprivedouple
without
money
were
hinking
f a
chronic
tonic o
live,
to leave he
black
mud n
which
hey
drowned,
lotting.
Habiaunavezuna
pareja
esprovista
poca
vista indinero
ensaban
6nico
t6nico
cr6nico
dmo
ivir,
salir
del
negro
ango
que
a
ahogaba,
tramaba.
Thecouple leave the countrysideand come to the city,where the husband,
acting
as a
pimp,
sets his wife
up
with a tourist and she
begins
to work the
tourist for
money
and
gifts.
The
song parodies
the
clueless
tourist,
who thinks
that he is the one
taking
advantage
of
the
woman. The
rapper portrays
he
woman
as the
agent
and the touristas her
helpless
victim.The
song
continues
with
the
following
chorus:
Everythinghatshe asked or, he idiot
paid
out,
a
pretty
oom n
the
Cohiba,
he
idiot
paid
out,
A
dress or
her,
and a
shirt or
me,
the
idiot
paid
out,
If
she
wanted o
go
to
the
beach,
he
idiotpaidout,
Hewas
running
ut of
money,
but
the
Todooque epedia,elpunto ela
gastaba,
una linda
habitaci6n
n el
Cohiba,
l
punto
e
la
gastaba,
un
vestido
a'
ella,
y
una
camisa
pa'
mi
el
punto
e
la
gastaba,
si
querfa
r
a
la
playa,
el
punto
e
la
gastaba,
ya
lacuenta
no
le
daba,
no
le
daba,
y
el
590
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
18/35
SUJATHA
FERNANDES
idiot
paid
out,
to danceata concertwithOrishas,
the
idiot
paid
out.
punto
e
la
gastaba,
al conciertoonOrishas, bailar, el
punto
e
la
gastaba.
Inthe
Orishas
ong,
ineterismo
s
presented
as
a
vacation or
the woman who
is taken to
the
beach,
receives new
clothes,
and has a
fancy
room
in
the hotel
Cohiba.The Orishas
ven
write
hemselves
nto the
song, saying
hat
the
woman
gets
the
tourist
to
take
him for an
Orisha's
oncert,
but also
suggesting
hat the
Orishasare somehow themselves ineteros,producing uitablyexotic music for
an
international market.
The
woman tricks the tourist into
buying
her
new
clothes
and
giving
her
money.
She and her husband
use
the
money
for
them-
selves and
finally
the husband
comes
to
take
the
jinetera
from the hotel
room
and
on his
way
out
they
rob the tourist of all that he has. The
song
concludes
with the
victory
of the
couple
who
have come out of
poverty,
and it is the
tourist
who has lost out. Orishascelebrate
jineterismo
as a
practice
hat
puts
agency and control in the hands of the women and men who use it to rob
tourists
in
order
to
support
themselves.
Jineterismo
becomes
a
strategy
by
which to raise oneself
up.
ForOrishas t is a
practice
hat resists he
objectify-
ing
intent of the tourist and
turns
his
voyeuristic
designs
back
on
himself
by
making
him an
object
of ridicule.
In
contrast o the
traditionalvalues
of
work
and
study
put
forwardas a
way
of
improving
one's
conditions,
Orishas
uggest
that
tricking
and
robbing
ourists is a worthwhile
means
to
rise from
poverty.
The relativeautonomy of commercialgroupssuch as Orishas,which de-
rives from
being
based outside of
Cubaand funded
by
a transnational
record
label,
allows
them
scope
to broach
topics
such as
jineterismo
hat are threat-
ening
to the Cuban ocialist
government
n
several
ways.
The
ability
of
jineteros
to hustle for
dollars
rom
tourists
challenges
he
regimes
of labor
discipline
he
socialist state seeks to
impose.
The Worker's
Center
of
Cuba
(Central
de
Trabajadores
e
Cuba,
CTC)
ut
out documents
stating
hat
practices
uch as
ine-
terismo ncouragea declineinthe laborethic(cited nSuarezSalazar 000:345).
Many
oreign
construction
companies,
foreignagencies
contracted
o
do infra-
structural
work,
and even
the smaller"free rade zones"
opening
up
in
various
regions
of
Havana,
require
ocal
labor.
The
foreign companies pay
the
Cuban
government
about
$US
8-10
per
hour for each of the
laborers
and
the labor-
ers are
paid
200
pesos
($US9.50)
a month
by
the state
(Corbett
002:125).
But
through
hustling, ineteros
can
bypass
official avenues for
earning
an
income.
Thevaluesofjineterismo ontradict ocialist deology,and disrupt he attempts
of
the state to
justify
new forms of labor
discipline
related to Cuba's
nsertion
591
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
19/35
Fear of a Black Nation
into a
global
economy.
As
the
Cuban tate
seeks to
regulate
oreign
currency
o-
wards a centralized state bureaucracy,blackand mulatto youth siphon off
some of the
dollarsthat have
begun
to enter
Cuba.
Moreover,
n a social
level the
lifestyles
and
values of consumerismand
sex-
ual
licentiousness
represented
by
thejineteros
are
an
affront
o the
high
moral-
ism
espoused
by
the
revolutionary
eadership.
LuisSuArezSalazar
2000:344)
quotes
Fidel
Castroas
saying
that tourism
has "lead
to various
types
of re-
proachable
social behavior
(such
as
prostitution)
and
an increase
in delin-
quency...these acts point to a significanterosion in the ethical values and
moralsthat
have been
promoted
in the diverse
formaland informaleducative
and
ideological
nstitutions f Cuban
ocialism."
hrough
heir
open
celebration
of
consumption, sexuality,
and
desire
in narratives
dealing
with
jineterismo,
commercial
rappers
are
subverting
onventional
tandards
of
morality.
n
some
ways,
Cuban commercial
rap
shares affinities
with
Jamaican
cultural forms
such as
reggae
and
dancehall,
which
Carolyn
Cooper
1995:141)
argues,
"rep-
resent in parta radical,underground onfrontationwiththe patriarchal ender
ideology
and
the
pious
morality
of
fundamentalist
Jamaican
society."Groups
such as
Orishas,
by promoting trategies
of
hustling
and
jineterismo
s viable
op-
tions for black
youth,
challenge
and mock the conservative
deologies
upon
which Cuban
revolutionarymorality
s based.
The
gendered
nature
of contestations
over
consumption
and
morality
are
particularly
notable
in
Cuban
rap.
As
Gina
Ulysse
(1999:158)
observes
in her
studyof Jamaicandancehall,the black emale bodybecomes a primary ite of
exhibitionand
commentary
within
black
popular
culture. For he Cuban
tate,
the female
body represents
he
moral
purity
of the revolution hat must be
de-
fended
against
consumerismas a form of
spiritual
disease that is
infecting
he
body politic.
In
the Orisha's
ong
the
jinetera
is
objectifiedby
the
pimp
who us-
es her to
revenge
himself
against
he
tourist;
he female
body
constitutesa form
of what
Ulysse
(1999:159)
refers o as
"the
ultimate cultural
capital."
Given
he
historicalconceptionof women as objectsthat are traded between men as a
way
of
constructing
heir
masculinity Rubin
1975),
it is not
surprising
hat the
female
body
would
again
become
a
site
of
contestation,
means
by
which black
working
class males assert
their
masculinity
n a context where
they
are in-
creasingly
being
disempowered.
Rap
music facilitates
varying
trategies
of cultural
resistance
or
Afro-Cuban
youth.
Thosewho
generally
dentify
as
"underground"
tilize
rap
music
as a
ve-
hicle to criticize he silencingof race issues in post-revolutionaryociety.Cuban
"underground"
appers
alk about
increasing
acial
nequalities
n
the
special
pe-
592
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
20/35
SUJATHA
FERNANDES
riod,
hey
challenge
stereotypes
of
blacksas
criminals nd
delinquents,
and
they
talk about the repercussionsof slavery in the contemporaryperiod. Others
who are
usually
identified as "commercial"
raw
on
rap
as a
means of
pro-
moting
alternative
strategies
of
survivalsuch as
consumerism
and
hustling,
thereby
challenging
new
regimes
of labor
discipline
and standards
of
revolu-
tionary morality.
Both "commercial" nd
"underground"appers
use
rap
as
a
means of
culturalcontestation
in
a
period
of
increasing
racial
nequalities
and
declining opportunities
or black
youth.
Rap
Musicians and the Cuban
State
Building
on the
culturalresistance
iterature,
he
previous
ections
have
looked
at
the
opportunities
that black
expressive
forms
offer for
a
renegotiation
of
racial
politics
in
Cuba. But
while Cuban
rap
may
play
a
contestatory
role
in
Cuban
society,
various sectors of the
movement have also been
harnessed
by
the Cubanstate as a wayof recapturingpopularsupportin the special period.
Some
recent
anthropological
accounts have demonstratedthe
ways
in
which
cultural
politics
can
be
drawn into
hegemonic strategies
by political
elites.
Katherine
Verdery
1991:314),
in her
study
of
Romanian ntellectuals under
Ceausescu's
ule,
describeshow the
discourse
of
the
nation,
deployed
in
count-
er-hegemonic
ways by
intellectuals,
was
adopted by
the socialiststate "in
order
to
overcome
it,
incorporate
t,
and
profit
rom
its
strength."
Following
Verdery,
Iarguethat the discoursesandstrategies hat mayprovideopportunitiesorthe
voicing
of
a critical
resistancecan also
become absorbed
by
dominant
groups.
This
account of
alliancesand
interpenetrations
etween Cuban
rappers
and the
state
also contributes o
the literature n
globalization,
by
suggesting
new
ways
of
conceptualizing
he
relationships
between transnational
nd national
orces.
I
propose
that we
need to theorize the
ways
in
which transnational
practices
such
as
rap may actually
reinforce he
hegemony
of
postcolonial
nation-states
in the contemporaryperiod.
The Cuban
state has
had an ambivalent
relationship
o
the different ten-
dencies of
Cuban
rap,
as
certain sectors in
different levels of
state
institutions
build
allegiances
to
distinct networks
and as those in
official
positions
seek to
appropriate
various
transnational
agencies
towards
different
political
ends.
In
the
early days,
state disc
enterprises
such as EGREM
hose to
promote
com-
mercial
sounding
rap
music as
representative
of the
movement.
According
o
Fernandez 2000a),whilethe discs of the more politically ngaged groupssuch
as Obsesi6nand
PrimeraBase
laygathering
duston the shelves of
music
stores,
593
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8/20/2019 Fear of a Black Nation Fernades
21/35
Fear of a Black Nation
without
airplay,
he more commercial
disc of SBS
with its
dance oriented
salsa-
rap mixturewas heavily marketed. He argues that the SBSdisc was "much
more
promoted
because
of its
popular
and commercial
character,
because it
had
nothing dangerous
in its texts and it made
the
people
dance"
(Fernandez
2000a).
Initially,
ommercially
oriented
rap
was
promoted by
the Cuban
tate
as a
way
of
diluting
he radical
potential
of
the
genre.
The
global marketing
of
the disc
brought
in a
large
wave of
foreign
producers
who "came
with
money
in
hand
trying
o
buy
Cuban alent with their low
prices,
suggesting
he
fusion
of rap with Afro-Cubanmusic, with son, with salsa and timba"(Fernandez
2000a).
The more commercial
rap
was also
exploited by
the Cuban tate for its
revenue-earningpotential,
as
part
of
a
larger
push
to
attract
foreign funding
through
Cubanmusic and arts. The
promises
of
money
and
promotion by
the
foreign
producers
did
cause severalCuban
rap
groups
o
change
their
musicand
become more
commercial,
or to break
up
as members
disagreed
over whether
or not to "sellout."
Thoserap groups hatdid not signdeals or changetheir music continuedto
build
the
Cuban
hip-hop
movement,
through
the
help
of
producers
Ariel
Fernandez nd PabloHerrerawho
broughtrapgroups
rom the
US
and from all
over the world or the festivals.
Particularly
n
the last
few
years,
he
Cuba