A cello and a double bass play in the background as the lights go out and cell phone flashlights come on. “Rene, come on, let’s study. Yes, I’ll ask you a question, you answer it.” What part of the body did the Taíno Indians use to play ball? “René, answer me.” A mother’s voice fills the Madrid hall. The entire audience sings in unison: “Head, knee, thighs and hip.”
The WiZink Center from Madrid is preparing to welcome the return of the most famous Puerto Rican singer in the world. Four years had passed since his last visit to Spain and everyone was waiting for this moment. The room is full, hands raised. A screen, two staircases leading to two desks: the stage comes to life.
Elegant but sporty, a white shirt with a vest and his legendary rapper cap with a [R] stamped on his forehead. His tattoos protrude from his chest and his intense eyes look around. He climbs the stairs, takes a sip from a bottle of whiskey and positions himself in front of the audience.
Resident in Barcelona. Photo: EFE
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“Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a baseball player, I didn’t make it, so I learned to hit hits on a track. I started drinking alcohol in my office again, I write well sober, but I write better drunk.” Resilient, combative, impulsive, Rene Perez Joglar (San Juan, February 23, 1978) observes the world, questions it and sings about it in a deep, sad and dense voice.
Rein
He tells of daily life in the city of Trujillo Alto, garlic bread, lost friends, loneliness, his mother dancing flamenco, the “move” from Calle 13, the death of his grandmother, censorship, pain. Resident He sings, from a black metal lectern, everything he feelsHe raises his voice on social issues and does not stand in front of anyone.
With his hard and deep rhymes, he speaks of the inner emptiness, of the sadness masked by laughter. Of the lies of the music industry, the need to keep touring to survive. “I don’t know where I’m going, but I know where I come from,” he sings in this first song, Rein.
The rhymes don’t lower their tone, the air goes in and out of his lungs quickly, his face concentrated, immersed in everything he’s saying. He turns his head to the side, covers himself, wipes his eyes. Pick up the hat he initially threw on the ground… “I am a resident, the greatest representative of sin”. The sinner Tell the audience about your identity, values and beliefs.
He considers himself a sinner, full of flaws and pharmaceutical pills. He is not faithful, he has politically incorrect sex and he admits that he is not what people want him to be. He does not believe in anything he cannot see, he does not believe in hell or heaven. Believe in the body until it lasts. He believes in music to express himself, even if it does not generate income, even if it is an excess. Rapper, without kneeling, he confesses.
The audience follows the rhythm and the concert starts off beautifully. The latest album takes shape with Ballad, For fun And I don’t know but IL. Raised hands move to the beat of the music. Go upstairs, pick up the bottle of whiskey and continue singing Rum on the floor. “For who we are, for who we were. For all we have, for all we had.”. As he sings in the song, Residente, lying next to that caramelized whiskey, his heart stiff, opens his soul.
Return to Calle 13
A cello solo brings the whole WiZink Center back to the good old days. The resident gets up from the stairs, his cap on the other side: “I don’t have much money but I have money, here we dance like the poor dance.” Everyone immediately understands that Calle 13 is back, but only for one night.
There is no one like you, Cumbia of the boring And Dare-to-be They make the audience explode and they get up and start dancing. “We come here to sweat,” shouts René, “for all those who fight against those who continue to kill”. Madrid jumps. Palestinian flags are raised and the Puerto Rican does not stop.
Endurance crown this moment of triumph. The resident feels everything he sings and manages to express himself with his whole body. “Even if we don’t want to, we accept new laws. We accept today that kings still exist.” Raise your middle finger, jump and hold your breath, like a prayer. Finish this awakening with Death in Hawaii And All over the world that the audience sings at the top of their lungs.
A street in Valparaíso
“I have a lot to say”he says, but no words come out. He crouches on the ground, his face down, hidden behind his hat, praying. War belongs to the first album of his solo project, Residentrecorded with musicians from the places where their roots are, to recreate their DNA. This is not America follows the rhythm of the demands before giving way to pure humanity.
“Letters are everywhere and in all places, you just have to find them.” The screen projects a hand drawing a street in Valparaísoin Chile, where René, inspired, wrote the lyrics of what has now become an anthem, Latin America.
“I am, I am what they left. I am all the remains of what they stole. A city hidden at the top. My skin is leather, that’s why it can withstand all climates.” A resident sings about Latin America, a people without legs, but who walk. Those in this room tonight feel the song pulsing in their chest, like a soul needing to get out.
The room is filled with lanterns that move gently. The atmosphere becomes more intimate. The meeting, Disagreement And let it flow accompany this moment. René moves with his eyes closed, enjoying the music as if he were at home, alone, with his headphones on and the volume at maximum.
Words lose their importance
“The words matter, but now I’m going to focus on my energy that makes us skydive and make love.” She picks up a bra that was thrown at her, shows a drawing and goes down to the audience to sing with it. So Residente finds a party atmosphere and concludes his show with crazy party, misbehave And Problematic Bastardwhile the audience jumps and moves their arms according to his instructions.
“I wrote this thread because I saw a newspaper article about a police officer who arrested a woman who had misinterpreted her future… I never understood how the officer knew the future was bad.” The future is ours It gets the bodies moving and the singing going. “Thank you Madrid,” Resident shouts to the audience.
But the lights don’t go out. The Puerto Rican returns to conclude this return to the sun with one of the most powerful voices in Spain. Silvia Perez Cruz takes the stage to accompany Residente in 313 and say goodbye tonight. Her soft and powerful voice surrounds the WiZink and closes the show leaving the audience speechless. And now, yes, now words lose their importance.
