Skepta Finds His Yoruba Roots in Cuba

Celebrity endorsements campaigns always work well when they’re authentic, and Havana Club really pulled it off with their collaboration with Skepta. Cuba is known for its multiculturalism and its African heritage (especially musically). But what is less known is that many Afro-Cubans have still held on to their strong roots of Yoruba spirituality.

The transatlantic slave-trade saw most slaves being trafficked from the west of Africa, and Yoruba is one of the main ethic groups amongst this region of nations, of which around 40 million are from Nigeria. The significance of today’s Cubans holding on to their Yoruba culture is important to understand because we are often misinformed that the history of Black people in the Americas started as being slaves, but really they held a significant and honourable history before that chapter.

Skepta has always been proud of his Nigerian roots, so he was shocked to discover how much of Yoruba culture is still embraced by Cubans today. While on his stay in Havana, Skepta mentions how music, dance and fashion were obvious similarities, but it was the Yoruba faith that he was most surprised by.

The end-product of the campaign sees a limited edition bottle of Havana club, designed by Skepta. Not only incorporating the design from his Nigerian-Yuoruba roots, but also keeping the first few months of this limited edition version exclusive the small corner-shops of the UK.

The full article can be found via ID. And check out the video clip below too.