An engaging new music video against the US blockade on Cuba has been released by the UK rapper Lowkey. The song Too Much recognises Cuba’s achievements as a defiant force against anti-imperialism despite US aggression and the blockade.
The track, and its' video filmed in Cuba, focuses on capitalism and its perverse obsession with material things, most obviously money, over human values and the physical and emotional well being of people in society. The video shows life in Cuba, where although people are still affected by the crisis of capitalism, a new socialist society is being built which puts humanity at its centre.
This is the second video Lowkey has released that is filmed in Cuba. The first, My Soul, although not politically about the country, still touched on the socialist values embedded in to the revolutionary spirit.
Lowkey's new video Too Much comes at a good time in the British political scene, where so-called 'socialist' organisations, such as the Socialist Worker's Party (SWP) and Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL), still refuse to recognise the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution.
Instead such organisations choose to spread lies and misinformation about the country, which often stem from anti-Cuban and pro-capitalist Miami sources. They even refuse to see Cuba as an example of anti-imperialist struggle for building an anti-imperialist movement in Britain today. The oppressed peoples of the world support Cuba, its fight for socialism, its humanity, its internationalism, education and healthcare, but that is not good enough for the SWP or AWL who call for their so-called 'socialist' movement inside blatantly imperialist Britain, without injecting the kind of anti-imperialist politics which we can learn from the Cuban Revolution.
Lowkey has made various tracks in the past highlighting anti-imperialist struggles, including his hugely popular track Long Live Palestine which has become something of a pro-Palestine theme tune, often blasted out of sound-systems at pro-Palestine protests across Britain.
The new video Too Much ends with a strong political statement from independent film-maker Pablo Navarrete about Cuba and the US blockade:
'The US government’s blockade against Cuba was first imposed in October 1960. It was introduced after the revolutionary government of Fidel Castro (which came to power in January 1959 after overthrowing the brutal US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista) nationalised property belonging to US citizens and corporations.
'Since 1962 the blockade has been tightened further and today represents the longest blockade in history. The cost to the Cuban economy has been catastrophic, estimated at more than 750 billion US dollars, in current prices. The UN General Assembly has voted every year for 19 years on a resolution condemning the blockade. Every year the condemnation is virtually unanimous.
'In the most recent vote in October 2010, 187 countries voted for ending the blockade. Only the US and Israel voted to continue with it. The criminal US blockade of Cuba has for over 50 years tried to suffocate the island; to teach its people and revolution a brutal lesson for standing up to US imperialism and daring to be free. With heroic sacrifices, Cuba continues to not only resist but to shine a light on the path to a fairer, more humane world.
'Cuba resists; Cuba lives; Viva Cuba!'
Lowkey has consistently proven himself to be a refreshing and cutting edge UK rapper with his finger on the pulse when it comes to the really important issues that surround the working class struggles both in Britain and the world. Lowkey's new track is taken from the highly anticipated album "Soundtrack To The Struggle" which we expect to be released later this year.
by Anthony Bairstow