[Si] TV

Thanks to doting women’s magazines, Calle 13’s Residente aka Renè Perez, has become less of an angry, Eminem offspring and more a lip-biting, LL Cool J. By now it’s easy to forget that Renè and his stepbrother Visitante aren’t just dedicated to the art of moving moneymakers on the dance floor. Since their 2004 debut, they’ve been an urban alternative group with dabs of socio-political commentary. Take for example “Querido FBI,” a song that called all Puerto Ricans to wake up to the FBI’s involvement in the death of boricua nationalist Filiberto Ojeda Rios. A relaxed Residente gave [Sí] Entertainment a call to discuss politics, cocaine and his good looks. (Scratch that last one…)

[Sí] Entertainment: We love your track, “Querido FBI.” Tell us why you decided to write it.
Residente: [It was] a song that was very important for us to make. It’s about [how the FBI] killed Filiberto Ojeda Rios in Puerto Rico. It has nothing to do [with the fact] that he was a nationalist; he was a human being first and they let him bleed to death. Some people from outside the country came to kill him and they left. I found it to be horrible. I feel embarrassed that there weren’t any Puerto Ricans around to do anything. It’s not a good message we gave to the U.S., Latin America that when things like that happen in P.R. we don’t do anything. Artistically it was important for us also. It gave us a certain type of level as artists. We first came out with “Se Vale Todo” and then we hit them with a socio-political song. It got people thinking, “Wow these dudes are something else.”

[Sí] Entertainment: Do you consider yourself the voice of a new Puerto Rico?
Residente: We’re a new generation within the music industry. We’re doing new conceptual stuff. As far as my generation is concerned, most of the cats doing reggaeton..are in my same age group. That’s why I don’t consider myself a part of a “new generation” of kids coming up [but] the material is new though.

[Sí] Entertainment: How are you dealing with all the attention you’re now getting?
Residente: It’s very difficult maintaining yourself in the mainstream when you’re not “mainstream.” We’re [out] there, but commercially speaking we’re not. You’re not gonna hear us on the radio a 100 times a day--as much as I would love that. We’re a very visual group. Most people who know who Calle 13 is, it’s because of the music videos we produce.

[Sí] Entertainment: Talk about your new album Residente o Visitante.
Residente: This album is very different and it was positively affected by Latin American music. It’s a mix of bossanova, tango, indigenous music, cumbia…and you can’t really define it. With this album we made [it] even more difficult for people to classify us under one genre. By now it’s obvious that Calle 13 isn’t reggaeton. People understand we’re rap, but it’s still different.

[Sí] Entertainment: You don’t wanna let Daddy Yankee get all the loot so when are you doing the Anglo crossover?
Residente: It may be that I’ll do it one day but not at this moment. I won’t do it until I feel comfortable with the English language. Not until I feel I can write something with substance as I do in Spanish.

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Watch the video for "Querido FBI"