Silvio Liam Rodríguez Varona

Silvito, a recognized hip-hop singer, is the son of the renowned Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez. Silvito "El libre" is the name chosen by Rodríguez's son, perhaps to differentiate himself from his father.

He was born in Havana and grew up in Banes, Holguín under the care and affection of his grandmother Isabel, where he completed his primary and secondary education. Unlike his father, Silvito El Libre is part of another generation. He, like many of his contemporaries and fellow rappers, grew up in a different Cuba, deeply marked by the scarcity of the special period in the 1990s and the bitter taste of rigidity and state control.

Influenced by underground music that reached Cuba from Puerto Rico, Panama, and the United States, especially by the Spanish-language voices of Vico C, Eddie Dee, El General, and DJ Erick La Industria, "who said the rawest things, moved my brain," Silvito has said "I didn't live with my dad, but his music was heard in my house and I admired him as a musician… His songs pushed me hard… When I quote some phrase from my dad, I do it with that intention, to make clear that he marked me… I don't talk about politics with my dad. There's always something more beautiful and familiar to talk about."

He debuted in the music world in 2003 as part of the group Raíces, where he remained active for two years, before moving to Havana.

Considering that he had left art school and his guitar education to sing rap, Silvito decided to pursue his desire to be a singer at full speed. "That's when I went to Havana at the end of 2004," to develop his career as a rapper and dodge the censorship that prevented him from performing publicly in Holguín.

In this new stage he debuted as a solo artist; in 2006 he released his debut track, a demo of the song "D Donde Vengo," and later became part of the musical project "La Comisión Depuradora," with whom he produced two albums, from which a great genre of Cuban rap emerged, promoting the genre through various presentations and concerts. Both albums were recorded at Real 70 studios, which brought together the best exponents of the Cuban underground scene at the time.

With several concerts held that year, a new focus was given to what is called the new school of Rap in Cuba. In 2008, he released his first album called "Conceptos y Principios," which was produced with the Champions Records label.

He has collaborated with other singers and groups such as: Los Aldeanos, El Pelón, Albany, and Golpe Seko, among others.

Despite obstacles along the way, and thanks to the Asociación Cubana Hermanos Saíz, since 2010 Silvito has been able to travel abroad to present his music. The rapper emphasizes that the work he does is not only for Cuba and Cubans in the diaspora, but his songs are expressions that point toward a Latin American sentiment. Hence the reception his music has had in other countries. "Especially I was surprised by the tour through Peru in September 2014, how people knew and sang the songs," says the artist enthusiastically.

He has consistently carried this particularly urban genre with the musical legacy of his native Cuba, generating more followers and increasingly moving hip-hop and rap fans.

In 2015 he released "El PacienT," an album notable for mixing multi-dimensional concepts, based on reality but altered to confuse us where his fantasies begin. The album proposes a mix of underground rap with professional and sharpened musical production. In 2016 he released two recordings: "Vivir" and "The Mixtape."

Since late 2013 he has lived in the city of Tampa and there from his "cave" Silvio Liam Rodríguez Varona gives free rein to his pen. He makes music. He thinks. He composes. He raps. The creativity of this 32-year-old Cuban —"rebellious because the world made me this way"— is complemented by a natural and bold talent for building harmonies that portray much of the feelings and frustrations of his generation. Proud of his Cuban roots and the musical legacy that shelters him. He recognizes the influence of carrying in his DNA the genes of his father, the popular Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez. He is aware of the great weight of carrying on his shoulders the fact of being the son of this troubadour who, from the first decades after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, was a spokesperson and interpreter of romantic, reflective, nostalgic, and also political themes, many of them promoted by Fidel Castro's government.

Social networks are his great allies. Thanks to these, Silvito makes his music known to the world. Meanwhile, through the small USB external memory drives that many people carry in their pockets and wallets, young Cubans on the island also listen to and share the work of Silvio Liam and other rappers, such as Bárbaro "El Urbano" Vargas, La Alianza, Soandry HDC, Maikel Xtremo, and Charlie Mucharrima. "That's how Cuban rap became known in Cuba, when it began to walk and to walk… We're talking with their same voices (the people's)," he maintains.

"And what is freedom?" they have asked Silvito El Libre. He responds: "Making music whenever I want."