After seven days of the scattered people of Cuba remaining vigil for the seriousness of José Manuel Carbajal Zaldívar, alias El Taiger, who was the victim of a violent crime, the greatest exponent of the musical genre of the cast died at the Jackson Memorial Hospital from Miami, according to what his work team announced on Thursday afternoon. “The Taiger was declared dead and has now joined his beloved mother in heaven,” they told his millions of followers. “These past few days have been incredibly difficult for those who loved him, and the support from around the world has meant a lot.” They also thanked the team of doctors who worked to give him “the highest level of care.”
Since he was found with a gunshot wound to the forehead in the vicinity of the hospital, several fake news have been spread that first announced an improvement and other times his death. On more than one occasion, his manager had to deny rumors of a case that remains under investigation to this day and of which very few details are known. His cousin Jorge Junior, leader of the group Los 4, where El Taiger became known on the island’s music scene, also confirmed the news that came to him directly from the medical authorities. “Many thanks to all those people who gave us a lot of encouragement these days,” he said from Cuba through his social networks. “We are left to remember his musicall the pranks he did.”
At the moment, not many more details are known about the death of the singer, who was found in the early hours of October 4 in the back of a black Mercedes-Benz, with a gunshot wound that exited the right side of his brain. . All this time he remained in critical condition. The Miami police circulated the photo of Damián Valdés, alias He Narrateswho was close to the singer and one of the last to see him before being shot. Until now, Valdés’ whereabouts remain unknown and the authorities have not revealed whether they have been able to advance other details with the investigation.
Since his death began to be a possibility, thousands of Cubans from inside and outside the island took to the streets, held vigils in their respective cities, carried candles and photos to the outskirts of the Jackson Memorial, where they sang in chorus the songs they did not. They have not only revolutionized the urban genre in the country, but have been anthems for several generations of Cubans. Great musicians like Chucho Valdés, J Balvin or Enrique Iglesias sent their support or dedicated a prayer to him.
The Cuban Government, which normally remains silent about similar events when it comes to artists in exile, did not remain silent in the face of the incident that has moved the entire community. Former Minister of Culture Abel Prieto Jiménez said, after learning the seriousness of his situation, that “all Cubans” wanted his recovery. Likewise, Lis Cuesta, wife of President Miguel Díaz-Canel, wished the singer a speedy recovery and wrote that “the Cuban nation is one, although hatred seeks to divide it.”
Now that El Príncipe from the duo Los Desiguales is no longer there, “the tranka” of the cast, the rhythm that sounds strongly among young Cubans and that came to add timba to reggaeton, to Cubanize the Puerto Rican legacy, now that death is a reality of the author of key themes in Cuban popular music such as Tangerine mark, Cupid, Speak matador either Below zeromore than one member of the cast has broken down with messages, photos, songs and prayers on social networks.
“I stay with the teachings in the studio, I stay with your love, I stay with your laughter, with your madness,” said delivery musician Dany Ome. “For me you will never be dead, your music lives and will live as long as I live.” The singer Bebeshito, with whom he had hits, wrote in his profile: “In a black and white world, you were a color in my personal life and in my career, my brother. Wherever you are, I want you to know that an entire country had faith until the last minute.”
El Taiger’s convalescence has sparked a debate among Cubans these days: he has confronted those who regret his death and those who call him a drug addict, criminal or problematic; those who boast of culture against those who defend the cast genre as the best musical rhythm to come out of Cuba in recent times; the extremists from South Florida who criticize him for visiting the Island and singing on Cuban stages, against those who defend his freedom to do so.
Some say that neither Cubans, nor music, nor exile will be the same after El Taiger’s death. They warned of a change without return in the urban genre and its exponents, in the relationships they establish between themselves. Others say that the conservatism that has characterized the exile for years could begin to see changes. And many know that although there are several Cuban delivery men making good music, today we have lost the one who had one hit after another, the one who played with his lyrics as with his big gold chains around his neck, with ease, as if he knew and lived like the best, like a Taiger.
Although it is unknown where his funeral services will be, his team will let it be known in the future so that Cubans can say goodbye to the author of the national soundtrack of these years.
