#i could rant about this for hours
Residente comes from the Puerto Rican band Calle 13. Their songs are widely acclaimed across Latin America and Spanish speaking countries, for the way they mix different beats, the way they’ve changed genres like raggaeton and for their social critique. You may know them for their hit song ‘‘Atrévete’‘
Fifteen years ago, Calle 13 wrote LATINOAMÉRICA. I really reccomend it – it never fails to make me emotional. This is THE song for me and many others. They depicted Latin America, its variety, our multiple struggles day to day while still honoring us. For this song, they travelled up and down the continent and met up with so many people from so many collectives – and the result shows it.
The band eventually split up and Residente, its singer, kept up his solo carreer.
Last thursday Residente put out a song that - for me - once again speaks intimately to the continent. The angry younger brother of Latinoamerica and a mournful, yet powerful tune.
THIS IS NOT AMERICA is both a social critique and a scream. Its title honor Gambino’s ‘’This is America’’ and also stems from the usual annoyance many Latin American artists, writers and common people have voiced in the past: Why is the USA ‘’America’’ when the continent includes us as well? Why are people from the United States ‘’Americans’’ and recognised as such, when the Americas is a continent that goes from Cánada to Tierra del Fuego?
But it goes deeper than that. In four minutes, Residente packs an infinite amount of offenses and crimes Latin America has suffered under both colonialism and - currently - US imperialism. The song and the video just, reference so many things: how this continent was ransacked and massacred and - after the fact - we just kept being stolen for by another empire, the dictatorships financed by the School of Americas, how the US put money in death squads and narco cartels, how they killed so many people, including artists (theres a clear visual reference to Victor Jara’s murder - a musician dissapeared and killed during Pinochet’s time). It’s about struggle but also about resistence ‘’We’re here, we have been here, we’re not leaving’’.
It’s not an old story – from Puerto Rican Lolita Lebrón in 1954 to the 2001 Argentinian crisis and police violence to Ayotzinapa’s 43 in 2014 to the 2021 Colombian protests. Bolsonaro. Narco Cartels. Immigrants dying at the border. I’m literally just naming a few. The story of violence and resistence in Latin America is messy and consistent.
He’s done it again. Just like fifteen years ago with Latinoamerica, Residente speaks for us and to us. It’s relevant. It hits hard – it’s graphic and blunt and… it’s us.
I’ll leave the lyrics under the cut.
Wonderful post about such an incredible song and videoclip
I just wanted to point out as well the presence of indigenous people in the video, mostly represented by small children and how they are affected by USA imperialism
(Here are amazon boxes polluting the amazon forest, and starbucks selling us coffee that was produced by latino countries)
And again what a fantastic video
If in your head you still find it normal to call the USA “America” as well as call Latin America the USA backyard, please watch this
