Maykel Castillo Pérez, better known as "El Osorbo" or Maykel Obsorbo, is a Cuban protest rapper born in Havana on August 20, 1983. Coming from humble beginnings and being self-taught, Obsorbo is, along with 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 of the island.
In 2015, Maykel was incarcerated for his controversial song "Por ti, señor," in which he blames Fidel Castro for the ills and precarious situation in which the Cuban people find themselves. "Por ti, señor, is why injustice exists, por ti, señor, my people feel sad, you were the one who promised things you did not fulfill."
On September 25, 2018, after performing a concert at La Madriguera (the headquarters of the Hermanos Saiz Association in Havana), where he spoke out against Decree 349 alongside other artists, 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 prosecution's request) for the alleged crime of assaulting a police officer. Maykel was released in December of that same year.
Since that moment, her tireless work as an activist has resulted in a string of detentions, police abuse, and harassment of her friends and family by the State Security organs, and she has personally suffered mistreatment and assaults by Cuban police officers.
In August 2020, he made headlines for sewing his mouth shut as a sign of protest against the ongoing harassment and repression he was facing.
On November 18, 2020, he went on a hunger and thirst strike alongside Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara at the headquarters of the San Isidro Movement, when State Security agents cut off their food supply and took away the food and money from the neighbor who was aiding them. The writer Katherine Bisquet Rodríguez, Iliana Hernández, activist Esteban Rodríguez, and self-employed worker Osmani Pardo later joined the strike as well.
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" 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 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 "What are they going to talk to me about," where they demand freedom for Cuba and advocate for their fight for democracy and human rights.
His latest track 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 outside 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 having evaded 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.
