The Power of Reggaeton

Nonardo Perea

HAVANA TIMES — On my last visit to Prague, we were given the chance to choose a subject to make a short like the one I’ve published alongside this article.

I chose reggaeton, of course. For a short time, I tried to focus on what was going on in Cuba and elsewhere around this musical phenomenon and its lyrics, which, in my opinion, nearly always belittle women in every aspect, generally-speaking.

Nothing else makes me as uncomfortable as listening to these kinds of songs, and I’m not against this kind of music, as long as they handle subjects with respect and don’t disgrace any woman the process, I’m fine with it.

It’s incredible to see how women themselves don’t even realize they are participating in this kind of degrading situation.It really saddens me to see how they are treated in music videos where they are physically and verbally attacked. Don’t they realize they are being used by men?

Another thing that really concerns me is to see with my own two eyes how the earth will swallow them up whole one day, to see how society is becoming more and more contaminated and they either don’t realize it, or they turn a blind eye to it in order to accept whatever comes their way, it doesn’t matter whether it’s good or bad.

Music blasting in our collective taxis and public buses, not caring whether passengers are willing to listen to all of this garbage that doesn’t contribute anything culturally, and worse still, it’s our young people who are mostly influenced by these songs loaded with banal and discriminatory lyrics. 

They are the ones who copy, down to the T, all of the vulgar language some backyard reggaeton singers use, to then repeat this in their own everyday lives.

CAPSULA DE REGGUETON PARA VISIONAR from havanatimes on Vimeo.