Krudas Cubensi, also known as Las Krudas, is an

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

hip-hop group with

black feminist Black feminism is a branch of feminism that focuses on the African-American woman's experiences and recognizes the intersectionality of racism and sexism. Black feminism philosophy centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently va ...

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

politics. Born in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

in the 1990s, it is part of the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

diaspora in the United States since 2006. They are now called Krudxs Cubensi, to reflect their non-binary indentity.

History

Group formation (1996-1999)

The three original members of Krudas Cubensi began working together in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuban hip hop scene, Odaymar Cuesta and Oli Prendes started the street theatre group Tropazancos Cubensi in collaboration with other Cuban artists. Odaymar’s sister, Odalys Cuesta, joined the collective in 1998. Mixing

community theatre Community theatre refers to any Theatre, theatrical performance made in relation to particular Community, communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a communit ...

, rap, and visual arts, Tropazancos was an educational and experimental performance group.

Early work as Krudas Cubensi (1999-2006)

After performing at the annual rap festival of Alamar, a Havana district known for its importance in the Cuban hip-hop movement, Odaymar, Oli and Odalys decided to shift gear in their art activism. Krudas Cubensi emerged in 1999 as a response to what the group considered a huge lack of representation of women in the movement: The three artists wished to “incorporate a feminist discourse to the unrestrained posture of the masculine majority.” Their first non-Tropazancos performance took place in 2000 at a Havana hip-hop festival. Because of their artistic work in the previous years, the members of Krudas Cubensi were already known by influential artists and producers in the underground hip-hop movement when they started rapping as Las Krudas. In 2005, Krudas Cubensi participated in the birth of the female rap collective Omega Kilay with artists such as Danay Suarez, wishing again to circumvent the lack of representation of women inside Havana's music scene. As their popularity grew, Krudas Cubensi members started receiving invitations to perform at music festivals abroad but their travel requests were always rejected by the

Cuban government Cuba is communist and has had a socialist political system since 1961 based on the "one state, one party" principle. Cuba is constitutionally defined as a single-party Marxist–Leninist socialist republic with semi-presidential powers. The pre ...

Immigration to the United States and touring (2006-present)

Wishing to share with

activists Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

outside of

more freely, the group moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2006 by crossing the

Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...

using the Wet feet, dry feet policy. The group's decision to leave Cuba was motivated by its desire to fight for

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

in other parts of the world, especially in terms of bringing awareness to the isolation of Black Latina and Caribbean

lesbians A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homo ...

. Since 2006, Krudas Cubensi has toured the U.S. and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, as well as other

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

countries such as

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, performing and giving workshops in the different communities they visit. The Cuban musicians’ fans are spread out all over the world. In 2021 they began working with Grammy nominated producer, Greg Landau on a new project that combines their Hip Hop roots with Afro-Cuban rhythms and an all star crew of San Francisco Bay rea musicians, including Karl Perrazp, Santana timbalero and Cuban pianist Omar Sosa. Odaymar and Olikude live in Oakland, California.

Musical style and activism

The artists explain the name of the group by saying it means “the raw ones native from Cuba and the Caribbean representing in the world.” The trio formed with the goal of adding “rawness” to Cuban hip-hop, inspired by natural sounds more than refined and harmonious beats. From the onset, Krudas Cubensi has tied

activism Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

to music and performance. Identifying as “Afro-Latin,

, hip-hop artists in the U.S.,” the musicians root their work at the intersection of their identities, believing in the connection of art and

in the struggle for

. First in Cuba and now as part of the Cuban diaspora in the United States, the group puts social issues at the heart of all lyrics and performances, speaking of

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

and

machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1940s and 1950s and its use more wi ...

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

and

lesbophobia Discrimination against lesbians, sometimes called lesbophobia, comprises various forms of prejudice and negativity towards lesbians as individuals, as couples, as a social group, or lesbianism in general. Based on the categories of sex, sexu ...

classism Class discrimination, also known as classism, is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. It includes individual attitudes, behaviors, systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper class at the expense of ...

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

, agism, etc. The duo of poets produces what they call “conscious music,” seeking to promote and defend the experiences of “ womyn, immigrants, queers and people of color.” Their work centers on music but is also about sharing knowledge with the different audiences, groups and individuals they encounter while touring, for example regarding the acceptance of body and

gender nonconformity Gender nonconformity or gender variance is gender expression by an individual whose behavior, mannerisms, and/or appearance does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A person can be gender-nonconforming regardless of their gender ident ...

, and addresses topics such as body hair and menstruation, as in the song “120 horas rojas,” an ode to women's periods.

Members

* OdaymarCuesta (Pasa Kruda) — (1999–present) * Olikrude/Oli Prendes (Pelusa Kruda) — (1999–present) * Odalys Cuesta (Wanda Kruda) — (1999–2010)

Discography

;Krudas Cubensi albums * ''Cubensi Hip Hop'' (2003) * ''Kandela'' (2005) * ''Resistiendo'' (2007) * ''Krudas Compilación'' (2009) * ''Levántate'' (2012) * ''Poderosxs'' (2014) * ''Highly Addictive'' (2016) * "“They/them, les elles” (2023) ;Outerspaces Crew * ''Power in the Margins'' (2014)

Other project: OREMI

In 2005, the Cuban National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) asked the group members to be co-founders of the first

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

group supported by the state, Grupo OREMI. They were approached because of their

for

LGBT rights in Cuba Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Cuba have significantly varied throughout modern history. Cuba is now considered progressive, with vast improvements in the 21st century for such rights. Following the 2022 Cuban ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cuban LGBTQ rights activists Cuban hip-hop groups Feminist musicians LGBTQ-themed musical groups