ORISHAS rap a lo cubano - creación y grabaciones de conjunto musical - TT: Orishas, Cuban-style rap - TA: creation and sound recordings of music group - Artículo Breve

Latin Beat Magazine, March, 2001 by Jesse Varela

Last November, the Cuban rap crew Orishas rolled through San Francisco with probably the most low-key reception of their American debut tour. Word spread that they were at Slim's, then at the Elbo Room, and finally at Storyville. Club owners were leery and didn't want to book the relatively unknown group. Needless to say, they packed the place, as the quartet showcased their fusion of hip-hop "rapeo" (rap verses) with "santeria" beats and traditional son. Since the release of their now celebrated album A Lo Cubano (Universal/Surco), it's been a love fest for the group that came together in 1998 when members Yotuel and Ruzzo hooked up with Roldan and Flaco-Pro (a veteran of Sgt. Garcia) through a cultural exchange program between French and Cuban rappers.

Raices

"The origins of Orishas goes back to a group in Havana called Amenaza (Threat)," says rapper Yotuel Romero Manzanares, from Spain. "We were one of the first rap groups in Cuba and got great response at music and rap festivals on the island. As a result, we got to go to Paris in an exchange between French and Cuban hip-hop artists. Earlier we had met Roldan, one of the co-founders of Orishas, who was living in Paris, and he talked to Ruzzo and me about creating something new using rap and a sonero, a traditional Cuban singer."

Disciplined and focused, they started producing music and collaborating with French hip-hop producer Miko Niko. They carried the attitude of Havana streets and were signed to EMI France and EMI Spain. Their debut album quickly established them as a group that could appeal to not only hip-hop heads but the Buena Vista Social Club crowd as well. Their remake of Compay Segundo's Chan Chan as 537 C.U.B.A. gives new meaning to the term old school. Strong ties link the group to its ancestral past, not only from the traditional sones but to the sacred rhythms of santeria and the deities called orishas, from whom they derived their name. Yotuel is quick to say that they are not trying to imply at all that they ate gods, but that using the name creates an image that identifies them as 100% Cubano.

"The name Orishas proclaims Africa and the gods of the Afro-Cuban religious pantheon. Santeria creates a philosophy for life whether you're a believer or not. Every time a Cuban opens a bottle of rum a bit is spilled on the ground for the departed. These traditions are imbedded in Cuban culture and it surfaces in our music, dance, food and other things. Orishas are a way of life."

Cubano Hip, Cubano Hop

Rap started with a lot of difficulty in Cuba. Some people said it was the music of the enemy. "We make music, not politics," remembers Yotuel retorting back. Today it is the music of the youth, with over 200 groups doing rap on the Caribbean island. In fact, the genre is considered a revolutionary way to reach young people. Groups like SBS and the all-girl Instinto have been creating word flows for years and the contemporary timba movement has certainly incorporated rap into its songs. But Orishas is the first group to reflect the urban reality of Cuba with street-level perceptions that are logical to capitalists and communists alike.

"Orishas is breaking down borders. I believe we're the first Cuban generation that expresses what we really feel about the problems we are confronting. We're the truth about our reality. We're breaking things down not only for young people in our country but also for an older generation of 40-50 year-olds who identify with us. They hear what we're saying and feel what we feel."

These young men come from poor, marginalized barrios on the outskirts of Havana with names like "Calle Hueso" (Bone Street). Young rap artists in Cuba have it tough with no access to recording or production studios. There are no samplers, turntables or an infrastructure to promote and distribute their music. Prohibited from reaching Cuba, it was Florida radio stations only 90 miles away that began to beam hip-hop onto the island. Rappers visiting from Puerto Rico also opened the door to rap groups such as Public Enemy, Run DMC, and movies like Breakdance.

"The government never said we couldn't rap but did censor some of our songs. But no, the rap movement was not banned. We were censored much in the same way they censored the nueva trova (new song) movement and artists like Carlos Varela and Silvio Rodríguez. Overall, Cuban youth have been empowered through rap to express what's happening and how they feel about it. All we ask is to be heard."

Represent

The group is a collective that collaborates with a wide spectrum of Euro-based Cuban musicians like conguero Angá Díaz (Irakere) and bassist Felipe Cabrera (Gonzalo Rubalcaba). The sound is of a sonero interweaving his melodies against sharp-edged lyrical attacks, the acoustic tones of congas, the sacred batá drums, a multitude of percussion and sounds all against well-engineered drum and bass tracks with Mike Nike, the mad scientist, conjuring up a prime formula in his Paris lab.

Songs like Atención speak to the urgency of the streets and the threats of prison. Atrevido tackles the sex tourism industry and its contradictions to the Fidel Castro-led socialist government.