I know most people find reggaeton music annoying and it seems to actually be gone from the mainstream, but when it came out it was quite interesting to me. Hearing ignorant idiots talk about how bad ass they are does nothing for me, but then came Calle13 and they were different. They were clever enough to be satirical, never taking themselves too seriously. Rene, Residente, always comes out in his videos as the hero who takes a beating, which tells me he would rather entertain than show you how huge his ego is. His stepbrother Eduardo, Visitante, is the other half of the group, and then their stepsister Ileana, PG-13, joined and contributing backing vocals. Their parents were married for a while, but after they separated Rene stayed with his father and he lived in a gated community. To enter, they had to go through a guard who labeled them residente or visitante, this being in Puerto Rico. Rene lived there and called himself residente to be allowed in, his brother was always visitante and since the community was on Calle13, that is where all the various names came from.
Their first hit was Querido FBI, which attacked the FBI for the actions taken against a Filiberto Ojeda Rios, who was a leader in a liberation party for Puerto Rico. This song gave the band instant local fame and started their career in a path that would swing from silly to political many times. I personally prefer the silly songs, but their use of so many different instruments and musical styles, they seem to be able to absorb the sounds of any new place they visit and incorporate it into their own sound, Visitante, especially, is drawn to weird instruments and you can see him playing them in the background of most videos. My favorite moment of listening to this band happened in the summer of 2006, I believe. We had bought a convertible PT Cruiser and we were cruising on one of those perfect afternoons/evenings when the weather is just right to have the top down, blasting the CD with Chulin Culin Chunfly with a very strong beat and I look back and even my baby Javalina is headbanging to the beat in his babyseat. I managed to buy three of their CD's and now it seems impossible to buy CD's anymore, so it got harder to keep up with music. I don't like the idea of buying a song straight to my phone, what happens when I change/lose the phone?
Anyways, they kept getting more political, coming out with Pa'l Norte, which would make me tear up the first few times I saw it. It shows random people taking the trek up from Mexico and beyond headed to the US. On the one hand, I know they are illegal and they shouldn't, but on the other, I know that there aren't many opportunities where they are at to risk their lives to come here and work our shitty jobs. The video has some tearful moments, because they don't all make it, some just hold on to a jug of water and hope to the Virgen de le Guadalupe for the best. Recently, I heard Preparame La Cena and it is even more dire and tear worthy. It shows three different pairs trying to escape their situation through various ways. The first a lady and her young kid ride in the back of a truck, assuming to make it to the US, but along the way there are creepy men staring at the young girl in the back of that truck. That is not even the worst of it, a couple of very young boys are shown getting up before the crack of dawn for a job opportunity, which as the video shows is more of a slave encampment. Maybe they aren't slaves, but they show the boys turn to old men in fast instances when they stop working to drink from gallon jugs, like their whole lives were wasted digging in those mines. Lastly, there are a couple of girls in a nicer community who see an ad looking for models. They willingly jump into a van and are taken to a life of prostitution, disappearing from their lives.
I still can't see this video without crying. We are lucky to live where we do, we are comfortable and luckily our biggest decisions have been do we stay in the small house where we don't fit because of all the crap we buy or do we move to a bigger house so Mijo can have a 60inch TV in his room? People all over South America seem to be on that edge of being so poor, they must risk their lives constantly to try and find something better. Calle13 has mastered bringing attention to this and has become such a proponent for the people suffering, that in 2015 he was granted the Nobel Peace Summit Award, which has also been won by the likes of Bono, Cat Stevens, Sean Penn, Peter Gabriel, to name a few. I find this amazing, but not surprising. This band has always sang with purpose and I am glad for their success.
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