‘Plenty of slogans, however the stores are empty’
The singer and composer criticizes the 63 years of the Castro regime and denounces the situation that the Cuban persons are experiencing.
By Pedro Manuel Gonzalez (Diario de Cuba)
HAVANA TIMES – Rapper Michael Marichal premiered his song “Tu Revolucion” (Your Revolution) on December thirty first, denouncing the situation the Cuban persons are experiencing after 63 years of the Castro regime.
The composer and singer, a native of Caibarien, Villa Clara, and a New York resident, recorded his single, produced by Asere Music, for the collective album La Resistencia Vol. 2.
Marichal told DIARIO DE CUBA that he was inspired by the failed experiment that’s the Cuban Revolution and by those that attempt to survive it without hope or well-being.
Your revolution, asere, is crap
Based on envy, hatred and snitching
Your revolution is shouting and gossip
Plenty of slogans, however the stores are empty.
“The Revolution against Batista was a historical event as was the one against Machado (…) Within the case of the one in all ’59, which is the one which my song addresses, I desired to refresh the memory of those that were a part of it or were born with it,” explained the rapper.
“Like many who didn’t enter the ‘New Man’ game, I spotted that every part was a circus, and I used my art to inform them that their lie not works for them, and that it lost meaning from the moment they imposed it, and that the excuse of the ‘blockade’ doesn’t justify how mediocre they’re; briefly, every part is a sham,” he added.
Regarding “committed artists” and “dissidents”, he stated: “There are creators who, despite living in a police state, have identified what’s incorrect, pointing their finger on the true cause from their various manifestations. They took on that pain and have become public loudspeakers. “
“The corruption is just not a secret to anyone, the audacity of the great life that the leaders give themselves, while the people struggle in long lines. Nonetheless, few had the courage to say it while many were silent, out of fear or convenience. After the events of July eleventh, there have been some with an extended history who decided to interrupt with the abuse, since the rulers showed them their true face. They did an about face transforming themselves absolutely; even some who had benefitted rather a lot criticized on their platforms the attacks against a spontaneous mobilization that took to the streets to say ‘enough’ “.
“That day marked a before and after within the Cuban soul, including for artists. And it turned out that it backfired [for the leaders], because relatively than strutting about their power, the master lost support even of a few of his own. It was a consequence that some once unconditional artists decided to stand up in pursuit of that clamor, because they understood that amongst those that were being massacred was their audience,” noted Marichal.
“Even so, there are those that selected to present support to the repressor, and I don’t doubt that amongst them were people who were blackmailed, since the regime knows something about them. Ah well, in the event that they should not sponsored by the State, their careers will collapse.”
His profession as a musician
Marichal recalled that he began “rapping” in 1998. “The bug was introduced to me by Vico C, the Puerto Rican, along with liking the US style that we could hear by pirating the FM signal with homemade antennas.”
“That is how the fury began in my little town, there the youth got to know me when there was no web or social networks. At first I used to be doing a more business rap, but my encounters with the Cultural centers modified my position. I do not forget that I recorded my first protest song. at a friend’s house, they usually even put it on a Miami station. That was the start of constant harassment from State Security since it reached their listeners,” he added.
“I made a decision to emigrate by raft to the US, where for the primary time I used to be in a position to shout that message on television. Then I retired to dedicate myself to working and I resumed it after I saw that within the Bahamas some friends were abused who, like me, tried to depart and were caught on the high seas. I desired to say things and I understood that it was time, because by that point I had already woken up from ignorance, so my lyrics became cutting, that’s how individuals who identified immediately heard me,” said the rapper.
“Today, my work is just not only heard in Cuba, but elsewhere. The support I receive is immense, because along with denouncing what happens to my people, I do it for others who also live under dictatorships,” concluded Marichal.
