Original 1990s, Cuban Americans hip hop stainless steel bijouterie

Original 1990s, Cuban Americans hip hop stainless steel bijouterie

bling bling Crucifix pendant, filled with Rhinestone.  Provenance vintage store in the Miami neighborhood of Little Havana

Size : Chain 74 cm

Size: Cross 8 x 5 cm

Hip hop music arrived in Cuba via radio and TV broadcasts from Miami. During the 1980s hip hop culture in Cuba was mainly centered on breakdancing. But by the 1990s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the onset of the Special Period, young raperos, exposed to foreign tourists whose wealth highlighted their struggle, turned to rapping to affirm their cubanidad and advocate for further revolutionary reforms.

The change in both attitude towards hip hop and the move towards home grown expression was in part facilitated by the involvement of New Afrikan Revoluationay Nehanda Abiodun, a U.S. Black Liberation Army activist in political exile in Cuba. Upset with what she saw as blind imitation of commercial US rap culture with its depiction of thug life, violence, and misogyny, Abiodun began working with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement in the US to bring progressive US hip hop artists to Cuba. This led to the Black August benefit concerts held in New York City and Havana, which have featured artists such as Erykah Badu, David Banner, Common, dead prez, Fat Joe, the Roots, Jean Grae, Les Nubians, Chuck D, Gil Scott-Heron, Dave Chappelle, Tony Touch, Black Thought, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, La Bruha, and Imani Uzuri.