Maykel Castillo Pérez, better known as “El Osorbo” or Maykel Obsorbo, is a Cuban protest rapper born in Havana on August 20, 1983. Of humble origins and self-taught, Obsorbo is, alongside Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, one of the leaders of the San Isidro Movement (MSI) in Cuba and one of the most prominent faces in the struggle that an increasing number of young Cuban activists are waging against the regime on the island.
In 2015, Maykel was imprisoned for his controversial song "Por ti señor," in which he blames Fidel Castro for the ills and the precarious situation in which the Cuban people find themselves. "It is for you, sir, that injustice exists; it is for you, sir, that my people feel sad; you are the one who promised things that you did not fulfill."
On September 25, 2018, after performing at La Madriguera (the headquarters of the Asociación Hermanos Saiz in Havana), where he, along with other artists, spoke out against Decree 349, Maykel was arrested at his home. In March 2019, he was brought to trial and sentenced to a year and a half in prison (six months more than the prosecutor's request) on the alleged charge of assaulting a police officer. Maykel was released in December of that same year.
Since that moment, his tireless work as an activist has resulted in a string of detentions, police abuse, and harassment directed at his friends and family by the State Security organs, and he has personally endured mistreatment and assaults by Cuban police agents.
In August 2020 he made headlines for sewing his mouth shut as a sign of protest against the constant harassment and repression he was facing.
On November 18, 2020, he went on a hunger and thirst strike alongside Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara inside the headquarters of the San Isidro Movement, when state security agents cut off their food supply and confiscated the food and money from the neighbor who was assisting them. The writer Katherine Bisquet Rodríguez, Iliana Hernández, the activist Esteban Rodríguez, and the self-employed worker Osmani Pardo also later joined the strike.
Alcántara and Obsorbo presented a deteriorated state of health. The main demand of the strikers was the release of Denis Solís, also a member of the San Isidro Movement.
In December 2020, Maykel was part of the collaboration between the popular Cuban groups Orishas and Gente de Zona, who recorded the song Ojalá Pase together with him and Funky.https://www.cibercuba.com/noticias/2020-12-23-u1-e186450-s27061-maykel-osorbo-une-orishas-gente-zona-nuevo-tema-musical
Obsorbo and Funky have also joined their voices in songs like "DIAZCARAO," in which they criticize the management of Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel and the entire cabal leading the Cuban government, and in "De que me van hablar," where they demand freedom for Cuba and advocate for their struggle for democracy and human rights.
His latest song with Funky, "El Aletazo de Alpidio," was released following the events of November 27, during which Culture Minister Alpidio Alonso used violence against the protesters gathered in front of the Ministry of Culture to demand the release of several detained artists and activists.
On February 5, 2021, together with Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, after evading the surveillance imposed on them in their respective neighborhoods, they arrived at the Capitol in Havana to demand the resignation of the Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso.
