YOUNG REBELS *** (three stars)
HOME-GROWN hip-hop music is getting a foothold in Cuba, but it’s not easy.
There are no recording studios and little equipment to make videos. What’s more, Fidel Castro isn’t a fan of the infectious, rebellious lyrics.
Still, according to the lively documentary “Young Rebels,” Cuban hip-hoppers are determined to carry on.
“The day that hip-hop dies, we’ll die with it,” one performer tells the directors, young New Yorkers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
Cuba’s musicians don’t look to U.S. stars like Jay-Z and 50 Cent – acts they consider too “mainstream.”
Instead, Cuba’s young rebels feel, as one puts it, “connected to the most progressive and revolutionary hip-hop movement in the United States.”
A labor of love, “Young Rebels” is essential viewing for anyone who wants to stay ahead of the hip-hop curve.
In Spanish, with English subtitles. Running time: 70 minutes. Not rated (profanity). At the Two Boots Pioneer Theater, Avenue A and Third Street.