The young Marcos Rafael García Valera, better known as Mason, won the First National Cuba Freestyle Festival, held in Havana. He triumphed over 11 other competitors from ten provinces across the country.

Las Tunas, Cuba.– The event, organized by Oralitura Habana, the artist Lokillo, and the Hermanos Saíz Association (AHS in Spanish), took place at the Pabellón Cuba and was very well received by the public. It is part of an effort to encourage this type of competition in Cuba.

“I was overjoyed to win this award in a competition that received 150 video submissions, of which just over 40 were accepted. These were then narrowed down to the final 12 competitors. For me, it's the reward for eight years of effort, discipline, and perseverance —eight years of hard times and frustrations. But if you don't give up, you can achieve your dreams,” he declared.

Regarding the competition process, the AHS representative in our region explained: “It was a Red Bull format, the main competition governing this style of rapping. We had themed rounds, contrasting characters, freestyle rounds, and more. This change in dynamics forces us to grow; it's interesting.”

This wasn't Mason's only award this year. He also won the Palabras Festival, competed in the Red Bull National, and won around five street battles. He embraces rap with a passion that captivates him, which he sums up in verses: “I’ll explain/now with a reason/ rap is the engine/ that makes my heart beat, / since it has transcended/ within my region, / and has led me to grow as a person/ and to dedicate myself to it…

“Rap was what led me/ to grow, to mature, / to understand, to write, / to speak, to feel./ Rap has been everything/ since I was in the cradle/ and that’s why I represent it/ and my city of Las Tunas.”