Cuban Rapper Discredits Report Of U.S. Government’s Involvement In Cuba’s Hip-Hop Scene

Yesterday, an AP report came across the wire that claimed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) used Cuban hip-hop artists to try and start an anti-government campaign in the country.

Cuban rapper El B has discredited the report saying in a Facebook post, "In the 20+ albums that we have released, we have not limited our message to politics--we are Cuban rappers [and] it is up to us to comment on our reality. But never has the Cuban government, much less the American government or any organization, paid us...To date I have not needed any financing to say what I think and do not criticize those who do because they must have their reasons especially given the country where what the do is repressed. It is a shame how our image was taken [so that] this news article reach the masses at the expense of our popularity in an attempt to soil it. "

El B is one half of the Cuban hip-hop group Los Aldeanos and was cited by the report as one of the artists who was promoted by the USAID's secret campaign. Los Aldeanos is one of the more popular groups in Cuba and among the Cuban population in Miami. The AP article wrote that El B has been estranged from Havana, but he claims that is not true.

"What I am all too well aware of is that we have been utilized without or own awareness by these persons for their own financial gain," continued El B in the Facebook post. "But not only them, if not most who have arrived into our lives."

El B's solo album Compilacion is set for a digital release this upcoming Monday, Dec. 15.

[Billboard]
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