Residente thinks the Puerto Rican anthem “sucks” so he wrote a song to honor his homeland
We kick off the very first episode of our weekly U-LAB Podcast with a special guest: René Pérez Joglar, also known as Residente. This writer, rapper and founder of the Latin GRAMMY-award winning urban group Calle 13 recently released his first solo album, titled Residente, as well as an accompanying documentary about his travels around the world. For Residente (the album and the film), the artist took a DNA test that took him to more than a dozen countries where he recorded music with local musicians, including throat singers in Siberia, an opera singer in China, a Tuareg guitarist in Ghana, and many others.
The album and documentary end in his native Puerto Rico, where the rapper wrote 'Hijos del Cañaveral', a jíbaro ode to his island that is, in a way, a new kind of anthem for the US territory. "I think our anthem sucks," says Residente. "I wanted to sing something that I can sing with honor and pride, that's why I did this song."
In this inaugural episode of U-LAB Podcast, Residente talks to U-LAB Music’s Nuria Net about the creative process behind his new album and documentary, the moment in first grade where he realized he was a good writer, how farthest he had ever traveled to before he started touring was Disney World and how he got Lin-Manuel Miranda (his cousin) to rap in the intro for Residente.
Here are two highlight clips from the full interview, which you can listen to above. Subscribe to the weekly U-LAB Podcast on Audioboom and iTunes.
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