The Cuban government considers the triumph a part of an imperialist regime change plot.
The protest song that has turn out to be a hymn of those demanding change after 62 years of the identical government also won Best Urban Song within the 2021 Latin Grammys.
HAVANA TIMES – The concept a gaggle of popular black musicians could represent their art and country on the Latin Grammys and win with a protest song against the supposedly “peoples’ government” in Cuba was not received well on the Plaza of the Revolution in Havana.
Dressed all in white and surrounded by candles, Yotuel, Descemer Bueno, El Funky, and Gente de Zona delivered a strong performance of their song “Patria Y Vida” (Homeland & Life with subtitles in English) on the Latin Grammys. The collaboration became a rallying cry in the course of the July eleventh protests in Cuba. It also features Maykel Osorbo, a hip-hop artist who has been jailed by the Cuban government for months, reported the Rolling Stone.
“The performers were introduced by Gloria Estefan, who was born in Havana. Within the song, each artist fires off lyrics which can be intense with pain, passion, anger, and hopefulness. Some people within the audience held Cuban flags as an indication of support,” noted the favored music publication.
“Patria Y Vida was one in all the massive stories from the Latin Grammys this yr: It won Best Urban Song and Song of the Yr. It’s the primary award for El Funky and Maykel Osorbo. In 2016, Gente de Zona won a Latin Grammy for Best Tropical Fusion Album for Visualizate. In 2003, Yotuel won a Latin Grammy for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Album for Emigrante. Last summer, he also released the song “Juntos somos más” alongside Lara Alvarez and Beatriz Luengo,” added the Rolling Stone.
Pedro de la Hoz, a cultural commentator of the Castro-Diaz Canel government, expressed the Communist Party’s chagrin concerning the song. He wrote within the official Granma newspaper that Patria y Vida is a component of a “soft coup” orchestrated by the Trump and Biden administrations of the US against the Cuban revolution and its leaders.
