 "Photo: orishasthebest.com")
Ry Cooder is credited with discovering the old Cuban crooners from Buena Vista Social Club, just like Columbus "discovered" America. In reality, Cooder simply introduced the rest of the world to traditional Cuban songs that Ibrahim Ferrer and Compay Segundo had been singing for 50 years.
But don't count on Cooder to introduce you to the next generation of Cuban musicians. His passion for traditional Cuban music is fueled by a romanticized nostalgia for the good ol' days, which means he's more interested in making albums for the museum gift shop than exploring the future of Cuban music.
"It's a goddamn hip-hop world," complained Cooder, "and now it has even invaded Cuba." He seems to think that hip-hop has infected Cuba's traditional rice and beans with American rhymes and beats, as if a contaminated Trojan horse snuck into Havana on radio waves floating across the Caribbean Sea.
The true history of Cuban hip-hop shows that quite the opposite has happened: Cuban rappers like the Orishas have invented a unique style of hip-hop from within their traditional musical heritage, but updated it for the new century. Most international rappers have yet to evolve past a mediocre mimicry of American hip-hop, but the Orishas have distinguished themselves by creating a homegrown version of hip-hop firmly grounded in their Cuban roots.
During a brief United States tour, rapper Yotuel from the Orishas spoke with The Heights about the group's origins in Havana, their diverse musical influences, and the future of Cuban hip-hop.
"Latin music is inside the blood," said Yotuel. "For us, it's impossible to do hip-hop that isn't Latin hip-hop." The Orishas' form of Latin hip-hop is distinct from reggaeton, a hybrid of hip-hop and Jamaican dancehall music made popular by Sean Paul and Daddy Yankee. "Reggaeton is all the same beat," said Yotuel. "We're very different."
"Orishas started with me and Ruzzo in a group called Amenaza," said Yotuel. "We were one of the first rap groups to get popular in Cuba, so we were invited to perform at a hip-hop festival in Paris. That's where we met Miko Niko and Roldán."
Miko Niko, a French producer who had been sampling Latin sounds, proposed the idea of forming a rap group that used live instrumentation and featured a traditional Cuban singer. Niko convinced Roldán, a Cuban vocalist and classical guitar player, to join the Orishas, despite the fact he had no previous experience or interest in hip-hop. Yotuel and Ruzzo begrudgingly decided to leave Cuba in order to pursue a career in Europe.
In 2000, the Orishas released their groundbreaking debut, A Lo Cubano. The album featured a hip-hop remix of Compay Segundo's classic "Chan Chan," called "537 C.U.B.A." Despite grumblings from purists like Cooder, who heard nothing but a bastardization, Segundo himself loved the Orishas' version. "For me it's the best interpretation," said Segundo, "because it's real without being nostalgic, it gives the song new life."
The debut album sold over 500,000 copies, sending the Orishas out on a hectic tour around the world. While A Lo Cubano focused on the experience of growing up in Cuba, the Orishas' 2002 follow-up Emigrante dealt with the difficulties of living as an immigrant outside their homeland.
"I miss Cuba, I miss my family, my neighborhood, my roots," said Yotuel. "I grew up in Cuba. I'm happy to finally live outside of Cuba because now I have another perspective. In Cuba there's only two television channels, three radio stations, and one perspective."
In general, the Orishas avoid polemic issues of politics and prefer to focus on social issues. When asked how he feels about Cuban-Americans' criticism that the Orishas have not been sufficiently anti-Castro, Yotuel responded: "We don't want to mix politics with music. I don't know anything about politics, but I have things to say about social issues, about life in the streets. When you're a Cuban, people just want to talk about Castro. If I was a Mexican rapper, no one would be asking me about [Mexican president Vicente Fox."
This year, the Orishas released their most recent album, El Kilo, with help from prolific producer and multi-instrumentalist Andres Levin, the Venezuelan head of New York band Yerba Buena. Yotuel said this album is the most traditionally Cuban in its style ("really, really old-school, like Benny More"), while their debut featured more new-school Cuban styles like timba and salsa. The middle album, he said, was the most straight-forward hip-hop, but even Emigrante was different from typical rap.
"We make music, not just beats with samples on top. We talk about social issues, the reality on the streets, not just money and women," said Yotuel. "And we don't disrespect women - that's probably the biggest difference, actually."
The members of the Orishas now live all over Europe, with Yotuel in Madrid, Roldán in Paris, and Ruzzo in Milan, but when asked about the future, Yotual said, "I want to live here in America, maybe Los Angeles. The weather is nice and the people understand my lyrics."
Eventually Yotuel envisions himself back in Havana working with other Cuban rappers. "We have tried to make some collaboration with rappers in Cuba, but the government there makes it so difficult. One day we would like to start a label and produce Cuban rappers in Cuba."
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