Fernando Cardenas (International XB) and Alexis Benítez Cardenas (AB Cardenas) are cousins who grew up together in Cuba and have been living and loving Hip Hop culture since the late 90s. Throughout the 2000s they made music together as well as separately until 340 MS was born in the summer of 2010 in Jagüey Grande, Matanzas. 340 MS was founded as a rap group and home studio in order to help develop local underground artists and elevate people of African descent through Hip Hop culture. Several MCs and DJs have joined the group over the years: El Pequeño, King Shotting, DJ Alex Represena, Abdel Hakim, San-Key Prod, and DJ Reymel have all been part of 340 MS. Today the group maintains its initial format with its two founders. 340 MS stands out within the Hip Hop movement in Cuba for its unique focus on Pan-Afrikanism in both music and activism. They have appeared in most venues that welcome Hip Hop artists in Havana and have organized various events for the community in the capital and the province of Matanzas. They have also been invited to several festivals including Waga Hip Hop International Festival, in Burkina Faso. In 2019, 340 MS introduced “Health and Wellness: the 10th Element of Hip Hop” for the first time in Cuba together with the community project “Regla Soul”. In 2020 they received the activism award granted by the independent organisation “La Cofradía de la Negritud" and Fernando Cárdenas was awarded for his commitment to the fight against racism and protecting the environment in 2021 by the C.I.R. (Citizens Committee for Racial Integration). 340 MS is associated with "Diaspora Rockers" an independent label and cultural resistance movement based in Paris, France. The duo also works with “Guerrilla Republik” a global Hip Hop movement and they are responsible for the birth of "Guerrilla Republik Cuba" since 2019.
