(AFP)
HAVANA — Cuba on Wednesday took aim at "vulgarity" in popular music,
decrying the sexually graphic lyrics that are increasingly common in
music played by young people on the communist island.
"We note with great concern that in the past few years there has been
a... type of artistic expression, including in popular Cuban music, that
leaves much to be desired," read the opinion piece appearing in the
daily Granma newspaper.
Cuba sees itself as the birthplace of salsa, which is seen as a national
musical treasure.
But like Cuba's communist officials, some on the island take exception
to reggaeton, a hybrid of Puerto Rican, Jamaican and Latin American
urban music that is sweeping the island.
Reggaeton often is also combined with rapping or singing in Spanish, and
its objectionable, even explicit, lyrics are the main cause of controversy.
Granma railed against the "inexplicable" popularity of music like
"reggaeton," which is wildly popular in the United States as well as
Cuba for it driving, upbeat rhythms.
In the lengthy article entitled "Vulgarity in Our Music: A Choice for
the Cuban People?," the government inveighed against the "macho" tone of
many of the lyrics, which "reduce sexual relations to something on the
level of a transaction between a prostitute" and her client, the
official Communist Party newspaper wrote.
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