The Degradation of a Culture
HAVANA TIMES – Cuba is the birthplace of great musicians such as Ignacio Villa, better known as Bola de Nieve, Francisco Repilado (Compay Segundo), as well as the Trío Matamoros, Elena Burke, Francisco Cespedes, Omara Portuondo, Chucho Valdes, Polo Montañez, among many others. Some are still alive, others are no longer with us, however, due to the quality of their music and the lyrics of their songs, they continue to be remembered and listened to. Sadly, though, those who remember them are becoming fewer and fewer.
One cannot fail to mention troubadours of the caliber of Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés (sadly now deceased). Each of them has marked an era of Cuban music and culture, but… what type of music do the youth of today’s Cuba listen to?
El Kimiko and El Jordy, Chocolate, El Dray, are some of the singers (if they can be called that) who are heard on every corner of the country, booming in the homes, bothering the neighbors who can’t stand this type of music (if it can be called that).
Today’s youth (teenagers between 12 and 19 years old), who wander the streets and buses in search of nothing, carry with them a blaring speaker that emits all kinds of noise they call “reparto music,” the genre they have assigned. It couldn’t be different because it is music born, raised, and developed in the “repartos,” the most marginalized neighborhoods.
The lyrics that emerge from these songs transmit nothing beyond violence, the male’s possession of the female with obscene words that only degrade women. However, we see the youthful crowd enjoying and repeating every word of these songs. The performers offer concerts and the youngest are immersed in this type of environment that only leads to vice and perdition.
Why are we at this point? We would have to look at families, schools where many of the teachers themselves consume this type of music, and also at those who allow this type of music to be recorded and distributed.
It has been a long time since almost no one listens to the greats of music, whether Cuban or not. The sense of cultural belonging and the sense of decency and good musical taste have been lost. Everyone has the right to listen to the music they want and like, but always keeping in mind those around them and respecting the permissible decibels.
The music produced in the last century and the century before, the heritage of our island, our culture that represents us, seems to have been forgotten. I hope that one day we can once again feel proud of what we once were.
Great music. I listen to it every day overlooking the Caribbean and my heart bleeds for CUBA
I absolutely agree with the sentiments of Kamil, however there is another aspect to the ‘The Degradation of a Culture’.
Having visited Cuba a few times over the past 30 years it is also rather sad to see Trio’s, Quartets or more musicians, in the standard ‘Package Tourist’ areas playing renditions of Buena Vista Social Club Classics, plus Guantanamera, Besame Mucho (actually a Mexican Biolera), and other Cuban Classics, night after night. This is a modern version of the three musicians that chase Noel Coward as he heads towards a meeting with Alec Guinness in Sloppy Joes Bar in Havana in the 1960s Film ‘Our Man in Havana’. Whilst I love these classics, never the less this is also an example of ‘The Degradation of Culture’, especially as these are superb musicians trained in the best Music Academies in Cuba (many in Classical Music or Cuban Jazz), but have to bend over backwards to supplement their income from the tourist dollar. Sad but true!