A new edition of the Alamar rap festival (Feb. 24-26) was what prompted this interview with Rodolfo Rensoli. He and Grupo Uno were the principal promoters of the festivals between 1995 and 2000 that first revealed the existence of a “rap” movement in Havana and perhaps in all of Cuba.
Read MoreAdrian Berazain: “I define myself as a person who makes songs, has a good time and makes people think.”
Read MoreRuben Aja Gari always has his camera in hand, he wanders the streets of Santiago de Cuba in his hunt for every detail of daily life, which he later gives back to us made into art.
Read MoreGabriela Lara is a Mexican writer. She has spent twenty years of her life publishing books and magazines, mainly academic works. Having worked over that time in a retreat-like environment correcting pages, one day she decided to join others to demand an end to the crimes taking place across her country.
Read MoreCuban poet and performer Luis Eligio Perez Meriño has been a controversial figure even outside his most common center of action: The Omni Zona Franca Project, which has inspired opinions ranging from mythical to the scandalous. (14 photos)
Read More“Hermanos de Causa” (Brothers of the Cause), the well-known Cuban rap group founded in 1997, has been a member of the “Cuban Rap Agency” since 2010. Their latest cause: getting Magia Lopez removed from the directorship of the agency. Soandry del Rio Ferrer, explains his reasons.
Read MoreLeonardo Padura: “You can’t take on the work of a novel if you’re not obsessed about it, with the story, with its writing. Because to spend two, three, or four years of your life writing a novel, you have to be obsessed with it. That’s the only motor that can drive you in something so crazy.”
Read MoreHakely Nakao Chavez, the young leader of the vocal group “Zamba,” shares her fascinating experiences with Havana Times as she explains how “music in Cuba is enjoying great health.”
Read MoreIn late 2011, a group of Agency-member rappers wrote to the Minister of Culture requesting the removal of the organization’s director, Magia Lopez, who herself is also a member of rap duo “Obsesion.” Sekou, the leader of Anonimo Consejo, was among those who signed the petition.
Read MoreMailen Avila is the director of the “Solfa” children’s choir of the Schola Cantorum Coralina. As she commented, “This year we’re again on a CD that has been nominated for a Latin Granmy. The album is “Reir y Cantar,” together with the legendary songstress Omara Portuondo.”
Read More