Calle 13's "Los Atras Vienen Conmigo" Review
Puerto Rican duo adds Cafe Tacuba, Ruben Blades for Latest
Sep 3, 2009
Stepbrothers Residente (René Pérez Joglar) and Visitante (Eduardo José Cabra Martínez) have garnered five Latin Grammys and one Anglo Grammy for best Latin Urban Album for the 2007 album “Residente o Visitante.”
“Los Atras Vienen Conmigo” features collaborations with Panamanian superstar and Harvard Ph.D. Ruben Blades and Mexican Latin alternative pioneers Café Tacuba. A video for the band’s latest single, “Fiesta De Locos,” has appeared on the cable channels Mun2 and MTVTres. It can also be viewed at Univision.com. The album received five Latin Grammy nominations when those were announced Sept. 17 2009.
Eclectic Influences and Spanish Rap
Calle 13 writes and raps entirely in Spanish, and some of the Spanish is not suitable for general audiences. Residente writes the lyrics and delivers with the fluidity and raunchy wit of a Spanish-speaking Eminem. One of his favorite lyrical targets is the shallowness of reggaeton, the march-rhythm, dance-floor-filling music practiced by stars like Daddy Yankee. He also skewers Latino wannabes. The song “Gringo Latino Funk,” the disdain is clear even if you don’t speak the language.
For those whose knowledge of Latin rhythms ends with steel drums heard on a Caribbean holiday, Wikipedia offers the following helpful definition of reggaeton: “[It] blends West-Indian music influences of reggae and dancehall with those of Latin America, such as bomba, plena, salsa, merengue, Latin pop, cumbia, bachata as well as hip hop, contemporary R&B, and electronica. However, reggaeton is also combined with rapping or singing in Spanish."
Visitante is the music producer and layers the tracks with nods to traditional Latino rhythms such as candombe and banda. He uses reggaeton, but strips it down to its skeletal, thudding beat on songs “Que Lloren” and Ven Y Criticame.” Name checking of Justin Timberlake and Van Halen gives any listener some idea of the breadth of the band’s musical palette. “Electro Movimiento” is almost pure electronica with Residente swapping Spanish with a woman singing in English. It’s cross-cultural and exhilarating.
Latin Superstar Collaborations
“No Hay Nadie Como Tu,” which features Café Tacuba, is a blend of each band’s undefinable style. As Residente told Miami New Times in a 2008 interview, “The song doesn't fit into any one genre. It's not rock; it's not rap; it isn't electronic. It's a mix of rhythms that don't necessarily pertain to one genre. It's a song by Calle 13 and Café Tacuba, and each group's presence is evident on the track.”
Blades, who began his musical career with salsa legend Willie Colon, joins the band for “La Perla,” a tribute to the eponymous San Juan neighborhood. La Perla is between the ocean and one of the more luxurious parts of San Juan, and it’s a large part of Residente and Visitante’s childhood. It’s a treat to hear Blades’ languid vocals over a beat that pulses like the ocean’s waves.
Calle 13 is a group that probes immigrant issues without becoming sanctimonious and addresses topics as varied as dancing and schizophrenia with style and wit. What they do is a winning combination in any language.
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