Sounding El Paquete: The Local and Transnational Routes of an Afro-Cuban Repartero

Abstract

Cuban authorities have accused reggaetoneros of creating "vulgar" and "distasteful" music since the musical style's introduction to the island two decades ago. As a result, the artists' work is mainly excluded from both state television and radio broadcasts. Despite these restrictions, reparto, a reggaeton subgenre that originated in outlying Havana neighborhoods, ranks today as one of the most popular musical styles in Cuba. Its broad reach is due to the style's prominent inclusion on el paquete semanal. El paquete semanal is an informally distributed digital media platform that provides participants with a means to find and create music, and to connect with a transnational network of music fans outside of the purview of the Cuban state. Using archival material from personal interviews and other forms of digital data collection, I address the addition and removal of the music of popular reparto artist Chocolate MC from the paquete as a direct consequence of the shifting decisions of a network of matrices, paqueteros, and subscribers. I argue that Chocolate MC's mediated path through the paquete sounds a shifting border between acceptable and unacceptable modes of racial representation amid a moment of heightened change in Cuba.