To record his next hit El Micha, one of the rising stars of Cuba's reggaeton music blending reggae, Latin and electronic rhythms, just has to knock on his neighbour's door.

A microphone plugged into an old computer in an apartment in Havana's working-class suburb of Reparto Electrico serves as the studio where some of Cuba's most successful reggaeton songs are recorded.

"Reggaeton is unstoppable because it is recorded at home. It is totally independent," says Michael "El Micha" Sierra, 27, a former basketball player whose bottom row of gold teeth flash when he gives one of his frequent broad smiles.