incorporates texts about the Afro-Cuban deity Obatala. Additionally, the rap duo Anónimo consejo frequently expresses their love for Cuba through their politically and socially conscious lyrics. At the same time that Cuban rappers have used the genre to speak out about the realities of their daily lives and issues that are often politely overlooked in Cuban culture, they also walk a fine line since so much of the hip hop scene is supported by the government. When the state and its nationalist perspective plays such a large role in the production and promotion of Cuban hip hop, artists must make careful decisions about how much criticism they really want to offer of the regime. When they rap about the realities of race or the sense that poverty and economic hardship are not being alleviated by the state, they risk breaking the close ties they have to the government and thus put their success on the line. Some groups have gone too far and faced sanctions or censorship However, many Cuban artists seem to have reached a consensus with the state's involvement in rap, accepting that the government's role may lead to better production, more support, and more commercial exposure. On the other hand, the government seems to accept and respect the revolutionary nature of hip hop and embrace that it is a means for the marginalized or downtrodden to speak up. In fact, many Cuban rap groups openly criticize the government, and many others openly assimilate to the government's nationalist ideals. The relationship can be characterized as encompassing both censorship and assimilation Although rap Cubano clearly adopted many musical techniques and stylistics characterized by rap in the US, the artists do not take such an adversarial role against the Cuban government for several reasons. First, the state supports hip hop culture as a vehicle of progressive revolution which is openly accepted in the midst of a polarized socio-political shift from Communism to Market Capitalism. Secondly, young Havana artists realize that their government provides free health care and education, as well as a generally more equitable distribution of resources. In contrast to US rap, rap Cubano's economic, and socio-political support elucidates a stark discrepancy in the motivation and ethos of the genres. While the foundation of gangsta rap is rooted in histories of state abandonment and discrimination, rap Cubano formulates a less polarized musical expression that lyrically portrays the realities of