Gente de Zona, Yotuel of hip-hop band Orishas
fame and singer-songwriter Descemer Bueno collaborated on the
song with two rappers in Cuba, Maykel Osorbo and El Funky, who
are part of a dissident artists' collective on the communist-run
island.
The group performed on stage in Las Vegas dressed in white in a
show of solidarity with fellow activists in Cuba. 'Patria y
Vida' also won best urban song of the year in the awards.
"This is for my country, for freedom of expression, and for the
freedom of the Cubans," said singer Bueno after receiving the
best urban song award early in the night.
The winning song's title, "Homeland and Life," is a play on the
long-standing Cuban mantra "Patria o Muerte" ("Homeland or
Death") emblazoned on walls and billboards across the island
nation since Fidel Castro's 1959 leftist revolution.
The lyrics refer to ideological intolerance, food shortages and
the exodus of young Cubans who see no future on the island.
The song struck a nerve in Cuba. The slogan 'Patria y Vida' was
chanted by protesters who took to the streets on July 11 this
year for rallies believed to be the largest since Castro's
revolution.
Government media has said the song miscontrues the Cuban
reality, and officials blame the nation's economic woes largely
on the Cold War-era U.S. embargo.
'Patria y Vida' later became a rallying cry for protests planned
for Nov. 15, but those demonstrations fizzled under government
pressure, and few Cubans took to the streets.
One of the group's members, Maykel Osorbo, who was jailed
earlier this year in Cuba, was unable to attend the ceremony.
Yotuel, who spoke on behalf of the group after receiving the
song of the year award, dedicated the prize to Osorbo.
"To a free Cuba, to Maykal Osorbo, and let us all say, 'Patria y
Vida,' Yotuel said before a cheering crowd.
(Reporting by Caribbean Newsroom; Editing by Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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