Residente: The Message Playlist

Apple Music’s The Message is a series that has long aimed to centre conversations about Black and brown experiences in the scope of music while highlighting music’s ability to help further these conversations. Rarely, though, does the show play host to an activist and musician like San Juan, Puerto Rico’s Residente, an artist whose career was built on shaking the table. “It's difficult when you're in this industry to talk about real stuff,” Residente tells Ebro Darden in the latest episode. “When I first started and I did a song called ‘Dear FBI’, I remember that I was about to sign with Sony. Everything stopped for a while because of that. But it was good, because after that, they knew that I was going to be like that.” “Querido FBI” is a song Residente, born René Pérez Joglar, released while still a member of Calle 13, a Puerto Rico-hailing duo that made music as popular as it was righteous, touching hearts and minds worldwide to the tune of some 27 Latin Grammy Awards. “Then I did ‘Atrévete’, which was a huge hit,” Residente continues. “So I said, ‘That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you that, but I'm going to do these, too, so I'm going to have that balance.’ Because if you stayed on one side, then they put you in a box. No, I talk about everything that affects me.” The latest amendment to that dialogue is Residente’s recently released album LAS LETRAS YA NO IMPORTAN. Calle 13 disbanded around 2015, something the singer says was merely a by-product of needing to broaden his practice. “One of the reasons why I stopped doing Calle 13 is because it was very comfortable,” he says. “Even though we were doing new stuff all the time, everyone knew Calle 13 already, and we were doing the stadiums. I said, let me start again with Residente. And now I'm transitioning to film because I want to feel uncomfortable. I’ve been directing stuff and my videos, and now I'm writing a movie, but art is about feeling uncomfortable. If you feel comfortable in art, then that's when you suck, because you start to do the same.” For his The Message playlist, Residente takes us on a journey through an already storied career, weaving together some of the most affecting selections of his catalogue to illustrate how he’s been honing in on what he needs to express. “I’m giving my best all the time,” he says. “But I think that artistically I can go further—and the new things are going to be completely different and very not thinking about the people. I think about me when I make an album, because that's the only way you can be honest with the people. Because if you're thinking about the people, to maintain them happy, then it's not you, it's whatever they want.”