The Cuban content creator Adrián Rojas (@cubanitocrazy) posted on Instagram a parody of the viral song "Dame Hombro" titled "Tengo Hambre," in which he transforms the melody of the hit by Dominican artist Bulin 47 into a direct denunciation of the widespread crisis facing Cuba.
The video lasts just 26 seconds, but during that time, Rojas condenses the anger and humor that characterize his style: he mentions Miguel Díaz-Canel, Raúl Castro, and Manuel Marrero, criticizes 67 years of dictatorship, and concludes with a refrain that repeats the same phrase endlessly: «I'm hungry, chay, chay, chay / I'm hungry, chay, chay, chay / I can't take it anymore, chay, chay, chay / I'm hungry».
The lyrics start with a devastating everyday image: "I haven't eaten pudding since the year before last, more or less since the day they stopped delivering groceries." Then it targets the regime's leadership directly: "It's that Díaz-Canel has ruined an entire country, along with 'China', the black Lazo, and also Marrero. Together, they have stolen even democracy and filled Cuba with misery and misfortune."
The post accumulated over 12,000 "likes" and 225 comments in just a few hours, with reactions ranging from laughter to bitterness. "One laughs, but it's true," several users echoed. Another commented: "Asere, you've gone global." Some summarized it in a brief phrase: "Total famine"; and one more captured the contradiction precisely: "It's a bittersweet feeling because the meme is really good, but I still end up hungry."
"Dame Hombro" was born in early October from a street improvisation in Madrid between Bulin 47 and the Colombian freestyler Kevin Wai, and it became one of the biggest global viral hits of the year, with over 100 million listens across various platforms. In Cuba, the song had already inspired entertainment versions as well as political protests, such as an adaptation calling for the release of political prisoners.
Rojas' parody falls within this second line and arrives at a time when the food crisis in Cuba has reached alarming levels. The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights estimated in August that around 80% of the population had skipped at least one meal due to a lack of money or food, and that 94% lived in extreme poverty.
It’s not the first time that Rojas has turned a collective crisis into viral content. In December 2024 he ironically proposed a "ponina" for five pesos to buy a thermoelectric plant. In another piece from that same year, he sarcastically stated that Cuba had regressed so much that Cristóbal Colón could rediscover it.
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