Socialism: “a society in which the means of production, distribution, and exchange are owned by the community as a whole, rather than private individuals” (azureScapegoat 3:40).
Cuban culture aims to maintain a positive professional image. As a socialist country, they work to create social connections between people and to avoid social division based on class. Instead of working only for oneself, the people work for and with each other, aiming for everyone to be considered at the same level. Additionally, along with the results of colonization, Cubans work to maintain equality among the citizens through similar Christian moral beliefs. Lastly, the country has prioritized the importance of a high level of language proficiency, primarily in terms of personal ideology. For example, political statements, such as “Ideas are more powerful than weapons,” can be found on billboards (Baker 169). With more conservative ideas, expecting everyone to think similarly, the country tries to maintain a high professional profile that would prove that they should lead the improvement of politics by example. This mentality is especially stressed by older generations, leaving reggaetón to be a genre of the youth.
Despite these expectations, many Cuban reggaetoneros sing about controversial topics that interest them. For one, especially in Havana, reggaetón focuses on how many relate to social status. Furthermore, Cuban reggaetón provides a space for people to speak up about and against political issues they understand in the country, including the importance of recognizing large numbers of immigrants onto the land and going against race, class, and urban inequalities. Despite socialism goals, urban poverty has reached a proportion of 20%. With this, the lower class citizens bring recognition to reggaetón music. On one hand, speaking up on the issues has, as a result, caused moral panic among the more conservative public and those in government. On the other hand, it has inspired the youth to challenge dominant ideology. Additionally, freedom of language inspired freedom of dancing, an act that has been frowned upon. Cuban reggaetón has inspired the modern ideology in youth to enjoy themselves however they’d like in terms of the joy of consumerism and hypersexuality.
As a genre with origins in politics, the music, especially created by artists in home studios, is considered political. Attractive themes such as partying and sex go against the image Cuba has been trying to maintain with its “good” citizens who abide by rules of decorum, causing the government to continuously work against it and restrict what music is allowed to be heard and public. Most reggaetoneros are banned from being heard on Cuban radio and from being seen on television unless they’ve been approved by the government. Besides censorship, the Cuban government has not gone further to prevent artists who have not been sanctioned from producing and releasing music. Regardless, Cubans work together to get the music they deem important to them on the streets.