By Mike Fuller

(Prensa Latina) Havana, Cuba - Occasional sprinkles kept down the dust for more than a hundred dedicated rappers and fans at the Madriguera performance space in Centro Habana. Many dreadlocked, and some with hiphop t-shirts, they were there for the Segunda Avanzada de las Tropas concert, hosted by the duo Satira y Mestizo.

The space has been provincial headquarters of the Hermanos Saenz Association since 1986, and its cultural promoter in charge of hiphop, William Figuerero, says the most developed elements of this genre in Cuba are rap, breakdance, graffiti, spoken word, and DJ's.

"We’re trying to cultivate a more educational, cultural message that includes elements like love and peace without abandoning hiphop’s rebellious qualities,” he says, giving as an example the group Explosion Suprema. He said that as their name implies, they have a volatile presence, but their message does not really transcend daily existence or become socially critical in a negative way.

Group member Etian Arnau Lizaire, 24, is a welder from the outskirts of Alamar, already known for being one of Havana’s more marginal neighborhoods. He talks about how most of the polemics of today’s rap in Cuba revolve around gender and offensive language to women, and says “we do strong music from our hearts but we don’t incite people.”

Group leader Reynor Hernandez says “we’re not sexist and we have never have told people to go be violent. Strength should not be confused with violence.” He says unity and self-esteem are the keys to effecting palpable change in today’s world, and that cannot be done alone.

Like Etian, he is currently studying to receive his high school Graduate Equivalency Diploma, but doesn’t really get into academic or political issues. “I’d say that in Cuba there are probably more good things than bad, but I’m a musician not a politician.”

Satira from the hosting band felt otherwise, saying the island is far from paradise, and many of its problems come from the US blockade. He said he disagrees with George Bush’s policies regarding Cuba, and that much of Cuba has been victimized by the blockade. “The people have no blame, but his laws affect us,” he said.

Mestizo characterized the group’s activist influence when he claimed “while Satira y Mestizo exist we will struggle for the rights of the world’s poor.” One of their numbers interlaced a recording of Che Guevara’s famous “Hasta la victoria siempre” speech (Victory forever onward) with calls for power to overcome daily obstacles.

Another Havana hiphopper was Jimmy, who sung a spiraling tour de force about the difference between wanting and having. Krudas, a feminine duo including former puppeteers Olivia Prendes and Odaimara Cuesta, raged into the mostly male audience with lines like “now were gonna' tell you a little about the ones who birthed you, the ones who got you here all nice and pretty.”

No less than a phenomenon, three members of the visual-musical-literary group OMNI gave a performance with Amaury Pacheco praying for the earth’s disrupted orbit and Yassel Castellanos and David Escalona.

The latter is a specialist in finding Jose Marti’s “underground” writings, such as “Freedom of thought is the base of all others” and using them in his songs and on his clothing.

The show closed well after midnight with a hot-blooded performance by Explosion Suprema, and proved, in the words of organizing committee member.