United States Agency for Global Media

Martí web doc to examine Patria y Vida

January 14, 2022

Miami, FL — The Office of Cuba Broadcasting is launching a second installment of its critically acclaimed web series “Subterraneo” (“Underground”), this time focusing on the song that took the island by storm and became a rallying cry for protestors in the historic July 11, 2021, demonstrations.

The song Patria Y Vida, which won Latin Grammys for Best Urban Song and for Song of the Year, reclaims and reimagines a slogan made popular during the 1950’s Cuban revolution, “Patria o Muerte” (“Homeland or Death”).

“Patria y Vida (homeland and life) reflects the sound of a new generation of Cubans, but it speaks to those of all ages,” said OCB Director Sylvia Rosabal, “So it is a perfect and important choice for Subterraneo to examine.”

“Producing this series was challenging to be sure,” said Joe Cardona, Editor-in-Chief of OCB and the series’ Executive Producer. “With lyrics like ‘No more lies, My people call for freedom, No more doctrines,’ and ‘we no longer shout homeland or death, homeland and life instead’ you can be sure that government authorities are trying to silence the song that came to be the soundtrack of the protests.”

The webisode includes a jail-house interview with Maykel Osorbo (Castillo), who has been held in maximum security since his arrest in May 2021, as well as with rapper Eliécer “el Funky” Márquez who also remains in Cuba. Musicians in exile and fellow contributors singer-songwriter Decemer Bueno, rapper and founding member of the Cuban hip-hop band Orishas, and the duo Gente de Zona are also featured in the webisode.

Subterraneo (Underground), which launched May 5, 2021, and was later nominated for an Emmy, examines the political and cultural history of Cuba’s hip hop and rap movement. “Subterraneo: Anatomy of a Song” debuts on the MartíNoticias Facebook page at 12:00 p.m. on Monday, January 17, 2022, a U.S. federal holiday honoring the life and work of slain civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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