[Dixielandjazz] Is Rap a New Jazz Genre?

[Steve Barbone]

Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. Below is excerpted from
long article about why the Cuban "Establishment" hates rap. The reasons are
eerily similar to why the US "Establishment" hated jazz a few generations
ago. Hmmmmm.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone  

Cuba¹s Rap Vanguard Reaches Beyond the Party Line

NY TIMES - By MARC LACEY - December 15, 2006

HAVANA ‹ In a country like Cuba, where the state has its hand in just about
everything, it is perhaps not surprising that there is a governmental body
that concerns itself with rap music.

Alarmed by the number of young people in baggy clothing and ill-aligned
baseball caps rapping around the island, the government created the Cuban
Rap Agency four years ago to bring rebellious rhymers into the fold. . . .

³Rap is a form of battle,² she (agency head Susana Garcia Amarosa) said.
³It¹s a way of protesting for a section of the population. It has force.
It¹s not just the beat ‹ the boom, boom, boom ‹ it¹s the lyrics.² . . .

. . . artists whose rap does not veer too much from the party line qualify
for the government aid. . .

Only nine groups are working with the agency. Of the remaining 500 or more
across the island, some voice discontent with Cuban society in language that
is as blunt as the accompanying beat is loud. . .

Aldo Rodríguez Baquero, 23, who teams up with his friend Bian Rodríguez Gala
in a popular group called Los Aldeanos, or The Villagers. (said) ³We want
liberty and freedom.² . . .