HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) — Working on an old computer with a burned-out monitor, Cuban rapper Aldo Rodriguez painstakingly lays the tracks for his next song.
Sitting shirtless on the edge of his bed, tattoos up and down both arms, the 23-year-old says he’s not afraid to speak his mind in the communist country run by Fidel Castro for decades. His lyrics are punchy and edgy, tackling issues that the state would prefer not to be aired.
“I’ve pointed out the things that seem wrong to me, and the people like it,” he says. “They like to hear it because they identify with what they hear in the songs.
“It’s not anything bad. It’s just the truth, and the people aren’t used to hearing it.” (Watch a Cuban rapper speak his mind )
His group — Los Aldeanos, or “The Villagers” — is one of Cuba’s best-known underground hip-hop acts. It’s earned credibility with lyrics that condemn racism, police harassment, prostitution and inequality — criticisms often heard in Cuba’s streets, but controlled by the state in the media.
For example, in their song “Ya Nos Cansamos,” roughly translated “We’re Fed Up,” you’ll hear these lines:
“They’re always saying we’re all equal
But you tell me if the doorways are crumbling in the generals’ houses.
Of course all the hospitals in Cuba are free
But who do they treat better, the officers, or me?”
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