Cubanidad “in-between”: The Transnational Cuban Alternative Music Scene (TCAMS)

The chapter examines the negotiation of narratives of identity and practices of music production of Cuban singers, songwriters and academically trained musicians that migrated massively after the 1990s crisis. It proposes the term the Transnational Cuban Alternative Music Scene (TCAMS) to illustrate this open-ended transnational network of music making, through constant fusion and cultural counterpoints with an array of Cuban and global music references. It documents how Cuban music is produced, distributed, and consumed across urban centers like Miami, New York, and Madrid through constant collaborations made possible by firsthand interaction of these musicians in a global context. The chapter argues that these musicians’ transnational lives and lyrics assume an apparently depoliticized and middle-ground attitude in relation to dominant Cold War narratives on Cubanness.