EDITH VAZQUEZ


 BARRIO2
 by Orishas

 I am the singer, I am present, the one
 who dominates this territory,
 the one who will say these rhymes,
 about the things that sound the same,
 About Cuba, everyday, from the top,

 Listen, this is our work, our rebellion,
 our beauty from those of us from below-the underclass,
 I always deal with these themes.
 And when I catch up to you,
 you will have a problem


Orisha's "Barrio" informs literary hip hop in interesting ways, and in-
vestigating the connection between musical and literary hip hop is
important. Depestre's story, "AbikM" and the song "Barrio" both com-
municate a sense of claustrophobia and determinism threatening an
inevitable violence; violence moves into the foreground of poetics so
that it may be addressed here rather than in reality. Hip hop inter-
venes in the logic of violence, using musical and lyrical reversals, rep-
etitions, and montage to forestall and interrupt a causality which would
advance further violence. This is a poetics that renders and reinter-
prets, splices and superimposes the materiality of space in ways that
are recognizable to its audience.


IV. Writer's Statements by Yohamna Zona Franca (Depestre Corcho)3

RITMOS EN MIS CUENTOS: Los sonidos que empleo en mis cuentos,
bueno...esto me hizo pensar porque en realidad nunca he pensado en
eso, aunque se que yo hago el ritmo porque estoy entire poetas y la poesia
tiene una gran ritmo interno y today la obra la tiene, la dramaturgia, la
pintura etc. Un amigo mio, poeta del grupo, me dijo que mis cuentos
tenian el sonido de jazz, sobre todo del jazz libre. Al principio no le hice


 Orishas. "Barrio." A Lo Cubano. Audio Compact Disc (CD), Universal Latino,
2000.
 -Based on email exchange with the author.