Calle 13

Posted on Tuesday, August 10

 

Calle 13’s “Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo”

La musica urbana se trata de respeto
Se trata de quién escribiendo es el que domina mejor el alfabeto

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Urban music is about respect
It’s about which writer is the one in total command of the alphabet

“Que lloren” from Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo

Calle 13, two stepbrothers from Puerto Rico, are creating a hybrid sound that takes off from a Latin Urban groove to become the most politically-savvy yet danceable sound of recent years. And they´re winning awards by the cartload in the process. With Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo, this year Calle 13 added five more Latin Grammy notches to their musical belt (Best Urban Album, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Latin Alternative Song, Best Short Music Video), topping the three Latin Grammy´s they won for their second CD, Residente o Visitante, and the Grammy they won for their first, Calle 13.

Vocalist Residente (born René Pérez Joglar) has a Master’s in art from the Savannah College of Art and Design and musician/producer Visitante (Eduardo José Cabra Martínez), studied music at the University of Puerto Rico. Now in their early thirties, they first met at the age of two, when Residente´s mother married Visitante´s father (though the couple is now divorced). Their name as well as their aliases are said to come from the fact that Cabra visited his brother regularly at Pérez’s residence, which was on Calle 13 (13th Street) whereas the reverse rarely happened. Hence, he was the “visitor,” whereas Pérez was the “resident.”

Esto no es Reggaeton

Pero como quieras bailas un montón

This is not reggaeton

But you can dance a lot, any way you want

“Fiesta de Locos”, from Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo

The duo´s music is often categorized as “reggaeton”, a genre which certainly influenced their music to a degree — the characteristic Jamaican “dem bow” rhythm frames many of the melodies,  while Residente raps over the beats. However, in “Que lloren”, the opening song on Los De Atrás Vienen Conmigo, the reproach to that genre´s exponents is framed in a wickedly funny horn-laden oom-pah-pah-rap, showing that they see themselves and indeed they are in a very different musical space.

Although some of the lyrics approach the swaggering bravado and raunchy sexual posturing that characterizes much of both rap and reggaeton, thankfully Residente most often takes aim at a variety of political and social targets, applying his thoroughly literate talents to a biting satire that turns angry at times, darkly humorous at others. All the while Visitante explores a variety of rhythms from the Latino musical universe, often in artful collaborations such as with Mexican roquero icons Café Tacuba in the polka-rock-romantic ballad “No Hay Nadie Como Tú”, which builds upon accordeon riffs. On “Fiesta de Locos,” the brass section takes you somewhere between the Balkans and New Orleans, ably accompanied on vocals by PG-13, their younger sister. The lyrical “La Perla” pays homage to the beauty of one of the capital city’s roughest neighborhoods, culminating with a powerful call and response between Calle 13 and the great veteran salsero from Panama, Ruban Blades. On this last song, perhaps the most accomplished of all in the CD, Visitante borrows not only Blades’ salsa beat, but incorporates a bass samba drum  and weaves the song in and out of  the traditional afrouruguayan candombe rhythm.

The result of all these globe-hopping beats: a compelling work of musical art, where the lyrics are smart, the style is cosmopolitan, and the rhythms set you dancing to a masterful mash-up of our Americas, a place where many of us can reside and most will happily visit.