Viva Raperos: How Music Can Interact With Politics Essay

A passion, by definition, is strong and barely controllable emotion. But in the book, Chad Foster tells us that a passion is something that one greatly likes or desires. He tells us to never underestimate the power of our passion and that life is boring and dull without one. This can help us in the real world because we can turn our passions into jobs, like Elton John and his music, and it gives us something to do in our free time that

Brittmarie Janson Perez, author of Political Facets of Salsa, writes, “Late at night, in a discotheque in a Latin American country whose political system is dominated by the military and is not particularly known for its respect for human rights, a crowd is dancing salsa, a generic term covering Caribbean dance music” (149). This has been and continues to be a very commonly accurate depiction of many Latin American countries. Since Cuba was founded in October 1492, its government and politics has been characterized by brutality, corruption and instability. Nonetheless, involvement from foreign nations and its deeply engrained Spanish roots has without a doubt had a significant impact on the transformation of what Cuba is today. In this paper, I will explore the pros and cons of the 1959 Cuban Revolution through the examination of the historical context of politics and how it impacted the social atmosphere.

Generations upon generations of people have been thriving in Spanish speaking countries. Cuba is no different, through traditional clothing and special holidays they always are in tune with the past. With flamboyant traditional attire, that rivals the suns bright color and Spring flowers, coupled with fun to watch free flowing up beat music like Guaguancó or Pachanga, the Cuban culture is very exciting. In order to start to describe my family ties with Cuba, I will use an analogy: With every spin of a vibrant dress it seems as if the hands of time slowly turn back time. As the clock goes back so does my family history. In the early 1920's my great grandmother and her family made the trip from Spain to Cuba. Ever since then my family has had bearings

The forth aspect of the Afro-Cuban experience which Helg mentions is the formation of the first black political party in the hemisphere, which, as I will address later, was destroyed between 1910-1912. When it is finally destroyed in 1912, official antiblack violence is what destroys it, and Helg shows that as the fifth particularity of the Cuban case. Lastly, Helg discusses the reconciliation of the "democratic ideologies versus racist practices" contradiction in Cuba for her final aspect of uniqueness. This last characteristic which Helg mentions played a huge role in the maintenance of racial hierarchies in Cuba.

How did Cuba and Brazil affect popular music, culture and dance in the 1940’s and 50’s? In this investigation I am going to establish what affects Cuba and Brazil had on popular music and dance. The first thing I’m going to do is discover how the music from Cuba and Brazil spread to America, the center of music. While doing my research I will be looking at what types of music were popular in Cuba and Brazil during the 40’s and 50’s as well as how these types of music affected American popular music. Two of the sources I used in this essay, Latin Music USA and Music in Brazil will then be evaluated. To

R: Evoking When Mambo Was King, by Peter Watrous proclaims that, The era portrayed in the book, post-war America through the 1950's, is the period when Latin music had a strong impact on culture in the United States”(Watrous). in an interview with Oscar Hijuelos. He reveals how turmoil in the Cuban government, Latin American music and culture emerged in the US due to the immigration of hundreds of civilians, trying to escape the reaches of Communism during the 1950’s. By incorporating historical aspects into the novel the author is able to create realistic scenarios like how influx of Cubans in the US caused changes in several media outlets like art, literature, and music. This quote from the novel explains the dire consequences of post revolution Cuba that would led to the mass immigration of civilians to the US: “In Cuba there had been rotting sheds made of cardboard and crates, skeleton children and dying dogs …

Many of the modern Cuban music comes from Europe and Africa. There are very few native traditions as it is Cuban music now consist of a mixture of African and European music. The paths with African music crossed when the Africans would work on large plantations and the Spanish would be on small farms. The Africans made many percussion instruments and rhythms that fit the new instruments well. The Spanish saw the innovation of the Africans and made the guitar as their contribution to the musical style of hard laborers. The Europeans gave the Spanish the idea to combine music styles and express it in a visual form, more commonly known as notes.

Cuba’s colorful history can be documented to before the days of the American Revolution in 1776, but today, American policy directly affects many Cubans’ lifestyles because of a nearly 45-year-old trade embargo that has been placed on the island nation. It is crucial to analyze the development of Cuba and its neighboring island nations in order to discern the reasons for Cuba’s current political situation with the United States. The following paper will discuss the events that shaped Cuba and larger Caribbean nations like Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica; next, a detailed description of Cuba’s turbulent history will help in explaining the Cuban transformation into a

After going solo, both Cuban and American cultures played a role in her music, allowing intercontinental relations to guide lyrics and songs. As a result, her rooted Cuban cultures influenced American culture as a result of the country’s foreign policy. From time periods as early as the 19th century Cuban/American relations became the foremost staple in the harmonious countries' trade routes. Their negotiation and relation would flourish until the Cold War when intercontinental moral was being

Before the popularization of Son, Cuban music and dance was largely influenced by Europe. Compositions in the early period closely resemble songs from middle-class Europe. These genres include: the creole, canción and danzón (Moore 17). While these genres were seen as the model of Cuban expression at the turn of the century, the Afrocuban music known as “Son” would soon become (and remain) the paragon of Cuban artistic and cultural expression; the previous genres paled in comparison in terms of popularity. Fusing African, Indigenous and European elements, Son exemplified the transculturation that so many of the elites in Cuba were promoting as Cuba’s identity; however, the most prominent elements in Son music originated from Africa, which did

Cuban music was changed dramatically over the years; Its humble beginnings began with sheet music to piano rolls in Havana, a stylistic change was coming. Although different genres such as criolla, cancion and danzon were considered very much the epitome of Cuban expression. The new movement of Afrocubanismo influenced everything from music, poetry and paintings. At first they were very much influenced by Western Europe art songs and classically trained singers. The working class and others like the black guajiros were absent. Throughout the history of Cuba much is discussed about the true heritage music of this great country and discard Afro Cuban music because it was considered black music. Many composers needed to use different terms to

In Latin America Since Independence, Alexander Dawson stated that the Cuban Revolution remains a “powerfully polarizing symbol.” This means that it causes people to adapt to opposing positions, the good versus the evil. For instance, the good was the Utopian vision, which consisted of the positive contribution that the Revolution brought with it to the poor and the Dystopian which would be the shaping of the social, political and private affairs. Utopian vision means to create ideas that would bring a nation into perfection. While, Dystopian is the opposite and demonstrate the reality of problem that in the case of Cuba was the totalitarian government and the social struggle of the people. Thanks to Oliver Stone’s film “Looking for Fidel,”

What is the meaning of passion? For many, it has it’s own unique definition, a definition that has revolutionized over time. When asked, most people would define their sense of passion as an “intense or uncontrollable emotion towards someone or something” . However, the original meaning of the word “passion,” especially in regards to the passion of Jesus Christ, takes on a different definition. When exploring the biblical interpretation of the word “passion,” it is important to note the incredible role Jesus Christ played in truly defining the word. Exploring what the old meaning of the word “passion” is, examining Jesus Christ’s source and direction of passion, and how we portray and define his passion today will all contribute to understanding

Since the beginning of its art form rap music has been subject to scrutiny throughout its existence. In a Theresa Martinez reading from the semester, the author describes rap music as a resistance. She builds on a theory of oppositional culture that was composed by Bonnie Mitchell and Joe Feagin (1995). In this article, “POPULAR CULTURE AS OPPOSITIONAL CULTURE: Rap as Resistance”, Martinez explains how African Americans, American Indians, and Mexican Americans draw on their own cultural resources to resist oppression. She states that this very resistance to the dominate culture in

A wise man once said “Man is only great when he acts from passion.” When you hear the word passion, the first thing that might come to your mind is something related to love, and you’re not entirely wrong. According to Merriam- Webster’s dictionary, passion is defined as a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something or a strong feeling (such as anger) that causes you to act in a dangerous way. All in all, it is a strong feeling, be it happiness, sadness, anger or liberality. You can be passionate about many things such as love, sports, food, or intimacy. However, it can also mean having a strong yearning for something.