Reuniting after a seven-year break, Cuban emigre hip hop group Orishas are also returning to their roots with a new single celebrating their “Cuba Isla Bella” and say they hope to launch their fourth studio album within a year.
The Orishas, named after the gods of the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria, originally won global acclaim for pioneering a unique Cuban brand of hip hop melding traditional beats and melodies like musical style “son” with gritty urban rap.
Band members, known as Yotuel, Ruzzo and Roldan, had parted ways on good terms in 2009 after selling more than a million studio recordings.
Yotuel said the angle of their new album is still a mystery to the group, but said it will include their hit song “Cuba Isla Bella”.
Roldan, the Cuban singer responsible for the band’s smooth melodies explained the separation was necessary because the group was “creatively worn out.” But he added that the time apart changed something.
Hip hop, which emerged in the 1990s in Cuba, was long viewed with suspicion due to its origins in the United States and the fear it could foment unrest as a channel for social critique.
