A Hippopotamus Breaks Into Buena Fe's Musical Home

March 2, 2023

Fusion of sounds, humor, and childhood are among the ingredients chosen by the Cuban group Buena Fe to create The Hippopotamus, the third audiovisual release from the album Morada, which evokes embarrassing situations of parenthood.

For the conception of the music video, the group counted on the participation of a group of children, who brought innocence and mischief to the material, available on digital platforms, along with the previous releases: Café and Las más viejas.

According to the clip's description on Youtube, The Hippopotamus was "a true creative challenge," as it addresses an intimate situation between adults that sometimes—by chance, accident, or carelessness—can involve the smallest members of the household.

"That was something frequent during those pandemic days, or on any day of life, when circumstances force us to live intensely together," the text states, which presents multiple perspectives on this production, created to be sung by adults or children.

In that sense, the group's leader, Israel Rojas, pointed out that the piece is not an autobiographical representation, but rather was born from the stories of confinement due to Covid-19, while inviting the strengthening of bonds of brotherhood and love in families, among friends and at the people level.

"If you get caught red-handed, take advantage and disengage. After all, the hippopotamus has very small ears," goes one of the song's verses, whose music video was directed by Leandro de la Rosa.

Morada is an album dedicated to Cuba, to home, to family, Rojas stated, composer of the 14 songs except for the single Café, in which he shared the task with Spanish singer-songwriter Andrés Suárez.

He emphasized how the pieces serve as a kind of response to all the media harassment to which they have been subjected and their continued commitment to the Homeland.

Furthermore, "it is a reverence to all the music that surrounds us, music as a home, as a common house for all inhabitants of the planet, not only Cubans," the song recalls emblematic titles from the country's soundtrack and reflects our aspiration to be part of that pantheon of unforgettable songs, he affirmed.

To achieve this objective they had the work of arrangers Tiago Felipe, Daniel Torres Corona, Eduardo Corcho Torres, pianist Ernesto Oliva and Vicente Alejandro Trigo, as well as Ernesto Cisneros, drummer Maikel Pérez Leiva and Arian Rodríguez Álvarez as recording assistant.

According to the album's promotional schedule this month, Buena Fe will begin a tour throughout the island, and as a preamble to the journey will offer concerts on the 10th and 11th at the Anfiteatro de La Habana.

With the support of the Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas and the Musicuba agency, the tour will reach all provinces of the country with several presentations in universities, cultural centers, among other venues, while the promotion of the album will also be carried out in the form of CD and USB.