The Cuban rapper El B (Bian Oscar Rodríguez Gala) reacted to the case of Baby Lores, who was prevented from entering the island when he was urgently traveling to see his mother hospitalized in intensive care, and took the opportunity to remind everyone of the cienfueguero singer's past as a public defender of the dictatorship.
The video, published on Facebook, began with a declaration of principles: “I believe it is important to achieve the freedom of a country and then its reconstruction by not losing memory, remembering things like this.”
The past of Baby Lores that El B does not forget
Far from simply expressing solidarity with the singer, El B —co-founder of the protest rap duo Los Aldeanos— went straight to the point, recalling that Baby Lores has not always sided with those who denounce the regime.
“Baby Lores not only tattooed the image of the dictator Fidel Castro on his arm, but he also documented a process in the music video for a song called Creo, in which he exalted the dictatorship. There were lines where he attacked people who think like I do and like many Cubans do, and there were also lines directed directly at the Cuban exile,” he stated.
B stated that that song —released in 2009— did not appear by chance, but at the exact moment when protest rap began to shake Cuba from within.
"Baby Lores is not a rapper, Baby Lores is an artist who is an academic musician, who is a singer and has excelled in other genres, including reggaeton, ballads, and salsa. And at this moment, a rap song by Baby Lores is being released that glorifies the dictatorship," he noted.
The B went further by pointing out that the music video for "Creo" imitated the aesthetic of their own protest song.
"Coincidentally, Baby Lores' music video for the song 'Creo' has a similar aesthetic to that of La naranja se picó," said the rapper, who interprets that release as an attempt by the authorities to counteract the impact of critical rap circulating on the island.
Memory as a means of justice
B was explicit in stating that he does not celebrate anyone's suffering, but he is also not willing to erase what he experienced.
He recalled that, according to his account, "Creo" was constantly playing on Cuban television and radio, while artists and ordinary people in the United States could not cross the border to see their ailing relatives.
And he added a personal wound: “I believe there are pains that one can only understand when they experience them. For instance, my mother wasn't taken care of the way she should have been, and my mother died while I was in Cuba precisely during those years.”
He also mentioned the case of Celia Cruz, banned by the regime and separated from her mother until her mother’s death, as a precedent for the restrictions imposed for decades by the regime on Cuban artists and exiles.
“The reason Baby Lores had to separate from his family in Cuba is the dictatorship. And it is the dictatorship that prevents him from visiting his sick mother,” he stated emphatically.
The direct message to Cubans living on the island
The most striking part of the video was directed at those who still reside in Cuba.
“To my Cuban followers, people who are in Cuba, let this serve as an example for you to think about what you are going to support, to consider what you get involved in, because tomorrow you could be Baby Lores,” he warned.
El B closed his video with a clear message: "Long live a free Cuba, down with the dictatorship, no more divided families, no more people unable to return to their country to visit their sick relatives!"
Last Saturday, Baby Lores boarded the plane in Miami and was forced to disembark just minutes before takeoff, without receiving any official explanation from the Cuban authorities.
The singer linked the measure to his critical stance against the regime, which he adopted with greater intensity since 2021.
In April of this year, he participated in the judicial hearing of the artist El Insurrecto, and in March, his foundation Somos Esperanza was recognized in the Capitol of Washington for its work with children with autism.
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