(Special for Granma International)

                   THE 7th Cuban Hip-Hop Rap Festival recently took place in Alamar
                   municipality, east of Havana, with the participation of more than 50
                   groups from throughout Cuba and abroad. An enthusiastic crowd
                   packed the lively concerts, which extended into the small hours to
                   the rhythm of ingenious phrases continuously repeated.

                   Journalists, feature writers, researchers and several television
                   cameras captured all the details of the festival. Cuba is now making
                   news in all its musical genres.

                   A youthful environment took over the capital’s Casa de Cultura, Café
                   Cantante, amphitheater, theaters and halls. The festival included DJ’s
                   with their unique style, as well as break-dancers, visual art
                   expositions and a colloquium presented by the Union of Writers and
                   Artists of Cuba (UNEAC).

                   Frontline groups like Represent, Exploración Suprema, Hermanos de
                   Causa, La Guerrilla, Profesía Squad, Alto Voltaje, Bajo Mundo and
                   Onda Expansiva all participated in the festival.

                   International contributions came from Master Minds, La Bruja and
                   Micronauts from the United States; Kardinall Oficial from Canada;
                   Square One from Germany; and from Spain, El Pavo Malo because,
                   as one member shared, "I like the Cuban vibe."

                   In the UNEAC-organized colloquium, highly qualified intellectuals
                   expounded their concepts. Desiderio Navarro, Maria Teresa Linares,
                   Joaquín Borges Triana, José Loyola, Liliam Casañera and Zurbano
                   González spoke of the necessity to examine sociological aspects
                   beyond the music. The dialogue covered the levels of sincerity,
                   realism and discovery that rap artists should follow within a
                   movement with genuine concerns and expressions no longer found in
                   other musical genres. Zurbano González, the organizer of this
                   colloquium affirmed that "the movement is at the gates of its
                   maturity."

                   The interest abroad in Cuban rap is surprising. Over 60 books have
                   been written on the subject in the United States. Many U.S. students
                   write doctorate theses on this rap movement. Many Cuban rap
                   groups such as Athanai, SBS and Orishas have catapulted into the
                   international arena, with a surprisingly ingenious originality.

                   It is a whole way of life, with its codified gestures, its colloquial and
                   street slang, an aesthetic distinct from that of the disco-going public.
                   Its origins are humble, predominantly male, with macho
                   characteristics and a great need for communication and dialogue.

                   Rap was born in the United States in the early 1970s, on the streets
                   and corners of marginalized New York neighborhoods, in the midst of
                   the rock explosion and as a counter-weight to it. It utilizes the most
                   inexpensive of musical instruments, the human voice and an oral
                   message. Rap means to speak loudly. This "ill-bred" music has now
                   become a transnational million-dollar music industry, which has in
                   part whitewashed the international movement.

                   Cuba, with its wealth of timbre, converts everything that passes
                   through its popular spirit into its own system. Cuban rap was
                   founded on the basis of all forms of jazz, rock, and the great
                   rhythmic wealth of the Caribbean, including salsa and timba.

                   It uses fragments of retro songs, logically direct and crude in their
                   lyrics, given that they are a reflection of their surroundings and the
                   times.

                   "I’m from the street, and marginal/ even if you don’t like it, just take
                   it/ without sugar, I know I bother you/ chew me well and don’t add
                   condiments." (Garaje H.).

                   Cuba has a rap tradition that dates back to the period when Luis
                   Carbonell recited to rumbas and Harry Lewis let fly with witty songs.
                   In 1995 Rodolfo Rensoli realized that more than 20 rap groups had
                   formed in just one Alamar neighborhood. He organized a contest and
                   later sought and gained support from figures such as athlete Javier
                   Sotomayor, and musicians Chucho Valdés, José Luis Cortés, Edesio
                   Alejandro, Adriano Rodriguez and Gerardo Alfonso. Soon after, other
                   enthusiastic promoters from radio, television and other media
                   appeared.

                   Last year, U.S. singer Harry Belafonte met with Cuban rap artists at
                   the International Press Center and left very impressed, commenting
                   that Cuba has the most diverse culture he has ever witnessed.
                   Consequently, he added, Cuban rap artists have to be encouraged
                   and, at the end of the road, will have a huge influence at global level.

                   Rap has found serious support from some institutions, given that all
                   Cuban music merits attention. Young artists always have innovative
                   proposals. Cuban music is being extended and transmitted, it is not
                   static and demonstrates that it is always alive.