Calle 13 (album)

Calle 13
Studio album by Calle 13
Released November 29, 2005
January 10, 2006 (Canada)
Recorded Southern Recording Tracks Atlanta, Georgia
Genre Latin, hip hop, reggaeton
Length 48:46
Label White Lion Records
Producer Eduardo Cabra
Calle 13 chronology
Calle 13
(2005)		 Residente o Visitante
(2007)Residente o Visitante2007
Singles from Calle 13
  1. "Se Vale to-to"
    Released: 2005
  2. "Atrévete-te-te"
    Released: January 2006
  3. "Suave"
    Released: September 2006
  4. "La Jirafa"
    Released: 2006

Calle 13 is the eponymous debut studio album of Puerto Rican urban/hip hop band Calle 13, released on November 29, 2005, by White Lion Records.

Background

Calle 13 was formed when step-brothers Residente (real name René Pérez Joglar) and Visitante (real name Eduardo José Cabra Martínez) began creating music together in 2004.[1] Before forming the group, Residente obtained a master's degree in art from the Savannah College of Art and Design while Visitante had studied music at the University of Puerto Rico.[2] The step-brothers hosted their music on a website, and began searching for a record label in order to release their music commercially.[1] After sending demo tapes to White Lion Records, the duo was offered a record deal.[1] The duo gained recognition for their controversial song "Querido FBI", which responded to the killing of Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, a key figure for the Puerto Rican independence movement.[3]

Composition

Music

The album was mostly known for its new sound in reggaeton, where most of the tracks were composed of different rhythms and lyrics, without use of the dem bow beat. The album is a blend of reggaeton and hip hop, all with a humorous and sarcastic feel to it in subject matter.[4] "La Jirafa" contains Brazilian-influenced percussion and combined with the theme music from the 2001 French romantic comedy Amélie.[5] With Calle 13, the group started to be labeled as reggaeton, a genre that the duo wished to distance itself from.[3] Visitante commented on the situation: "The truth is that the first record had only four reggaetons. Those were the cuts used for promotional purposes, and so that’s the brand that was put on us. But from the beginning, to me, reggaeton never offered anything musically. My brother liked it, yes, but we always tried to execute it in an organic way, with real instruments and mixing it with other genres."[3]

Lyrics

On the album, Residente wished to address a diverse array of subjects as opposed to simply discussing politics, which he felt would be "a bore".[6] Writing in his book Reggaeton, Raquel Z. Rivera describes "Atrévete-te-te" as "a call for liberation directed to anyone who listens, but above all to the Puerto Rican middle class, the so-called miss intellectual whose heady 'show' of racial and class superiority does not allow her to enjoy her body and dance down the hill with the rest of the reggaeton nation."[7] "Se Vale Tó-Tó" contains sexual euphemisms, including the recurring phrase "anything goes in this sausage sandwich".[6] The song's title is a play on words, substituting "to-to", a variation on the Puerto Rican slang term for a vagina ("toto"), for "todo" (all). An approximate translation of "se vale todo" is "all is allowed here" or, more accurately, "anything goes"; the song's chorus is a reference to grinding while dancing. Residente directed and edited the video for the song with the help of his cousin, which was filmed on a relatively small budget of US$14,000.[8] The song "Pi-Di-Di-Di" mocks rapper P. Diddy, who had come to Puerto Rico earlier to scout out new musicians, and Residente felt that he was exploiting the island.[6][9] Residente described "La Jirafa" as "a pretty song, a love song for a woman, but it’s about Puerto Rico too."[5]

Track listing

All music by "Perez, Rene; Cabra, Eduardo", except where otherwise noted

  1. "Cabe-c-o" — 3:34
  2. "Suave" (Smooth) — 3:34
  3. "La Aguacatona" (featuring Voltio & PG-13) — 4:01
  4. "Se Vale To-To" (Everything Allowed) — 3:51
  5. "Intel-lú-Ayala" — 0:29
  6. "Tengo Hambre" (I'm Hungry) — 4:05
  7. "La Hormiga Brava" (The Brave Ant) (featuring PG-13) — 3:46
  8. "La Jirafa" (The Giraffe) — 3:16
  9. "Intel-lú la comermierda" — 0:24
  10. "Atrévete-te-te" (Dare you-you-you) — 4:01
  11. "Pi-Di-Di-Di" — 3:31
  12. "Vamo Animal" (Let's Go Animal) (featuring Severo Canta Claro) (Severo Canta Claro Independiente/Perez, Rene/Cabra, Eduardo) — 3:27
  13. "Eléctrico" (Electric) — 3:21
  14. "Sin Coro" (Without Choir) (featuring Tuna Bardos) — 3:49
  15. "La Tripleta" (The hat-trick) (featuring PG-13) — 3:21
  16. "La Madre de los Enanos" (The Mother of the Dwarfs) — 4:02
  17. "Suave (Blass Mix)" (Smooth (Blas Mix) — 3:40

Reception

Commercial performance

Although the album was not a huge success on the Billboard 200, only peaking at #189, it was a major success on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, peaking in the Top 10 at #6. It was also a huge success on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, peaking at #3.[10]

Charts

Chart (2005) Peak
position[10]
U.S. Billboard Top Latin Albums 6
Chart (2006) Peak
position[10]
U.S. Billboard 200 189
U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers 3

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[11] Platinum (Latin) 100,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Critical response

Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic praised the album for its unique spin on reggaeton, noting that Residente's lyrics display a "healthy sense of humor and an almost clownish approach to sarcasm...a world apart from the kingly bravado of most reggaeton vocalists, and the obligatory glimmers of misogyny and violence that accompany such streetwise swaggering."[12] He described Visitante's beats as "inventive", enjoying the record's deviation from reggaeton's "industry-standard trademark of Luny Tunes and that production team's assembly line of bandwagon-jumping imitators."[12]

Awards

At the 2006 Latin Grammy Awards, Calle 13 won three Latin Grammy Awards including Best Urban Music Album, Best New Artist, and Best Short Form Music Video for their first single "Atrévete-te-te".[13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Birchmeier, Jason. "Calle 13 Biography". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  2. ↑ Rivera, Enrique. "Calle 13 Invites Fans To Embrace The Ugly". National Public Radio. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Rohter, Larry (April 18, 2010). "Continuing Days of Independence for Calle 13". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved April 7, 2009.
  4. ↑ Billboard.com Biography - Calle 13
  5. 1 2 Horan, Tom (August 6, 2009). "Calle 13 Interview". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Morales, Ed (March 26, 2006). "SONIDOS LATINOS, Calle 13s stylistic blend has mass appeal". Newsday. Cablevision.
  7. ↑ Rivera, 2009. p. 337
  8. ↑ Birchmeier, Jason. "Calle 13 Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
  9. ↑ Rivera, 2009. p. 334
  10. 1 2 3 Calle 13 awards and charts
  11. ↑ "American album certifications – Calle 13 – Calle 13". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click Type, then select Latin, then click SEARCH
  12. 1 2 Birchmeier, Jason. "Review: Calle 13 - Calle 13". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
  13. ↑ Search for "Calle 13" at the winners of the 2006 Latin Grammy. Retrieved on 12 January 2013.
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