Used territory and urban culture: the hip hop circuit in the metropolis of Havana (1979-2015)

Abstract

Reflecting on the used territory, we operationalized the notion of cultural circuit, highlighting the materialities and actions promoted by hip hop culture in the metropolis of Havana, capital of Cuba. Based on a bibliographic and documentary survey, in addition to fieldwork, we propose a periodization (1979-2003) for Havana hip hop, and then we present an analysis of the circuit’s contemporaneity (2015), highlighting: (i) their speeches; and (ii) the typology-topology of its fixed assets, flows and agents. It is possible to observe a peripheral circuit dynamized specially by actions of resistance, in a large part characterized by improvisation, imposing the protagonism on the subjects who, merging aesthetics and politics, give articulation to the metropolis from the places.

Keywords:
Used territory; Cultural circuit; Resistance; Hip hop; Cuba