let your mind be free
daily dos
thu 11/5/2009
Calle 13 were the big winners at this year's Latin Grammy awards, taking home Grammys for every award they were nominated for, including "Album of the Year" and "Record of the Year."
shady lane
daily dos
thu 10/29/2009
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez says he will sing with Calle 13 during a free performance scheduled in the South American country. Residente of Calle 13 says: "It's not true. I don't perform for any president."
chain mail
daily dos
wed 10/21/2009
Days after Puerto Rico canceled a Calle 13 concert in response to Residente's criticism of its government, a Colombian town has followed suit. Residente's plan to piss of Latin American governments and get himself publicity by wearing provocative t-shirts at the recent MTVLA Premios is, apparently, working.
show me what you got
daily dos
fri 9/18/2009
Calle 13 lead this year's Latin Grammy nominees with five, including "Album of the Year." Other nominees include Daddy Yankee, Wisin y Yandel and Alexander Acha. For the full list of nominees, click here.
get hips to it
daily dos
tue 5/5/2009
Shakira surprised Calle 13 fans during a concert in Puerto Rico this past weekend when the Colombian pop star joined Residente and Visitante to perform "No Hay Nadie Como Tú."
off my chest
daily dos
sun 4/5/2009
Residente of Calle 13 tells Clarín: "The are very few good things the U.S. has given Puerto Rico, but there are lots of negatives. I've always been frank about my feelings about this, but because of it, people in my country call me 'communist' as if it's an insult. As if they were calling me 'cabrón" or 'hijo de mil p***s.'"
electric relaxation
daily dos
thu 1/29/2009
Calle 13 revisit the '80s in a new video, "Electro Movimiento."
electric relaxation
daily dos
thu 1/29/2009
The U.S. House of Representative has defeated the bill that would delay the national digital TV transition to June 12. The DTV transition will continue as scheduled on February 17 unless a new vote takes place in the coming weeks.
knock, knocked
daily dos
fri 1/9/2009
Shakira has tapped Calle 13 for a guest slot on her forthcoming album.
T-Pain, Calle 13, David Archuleta, John Legend and Q-Tip
the music press
fri 11/14/2008
- Florida rapper T-Pain is back with Thr33 Ringz, a "polished and self-fulfilling collection of hip-pop singles" that are "drenched in what already sounded like last year's sound a couple years ago," according to Slant magazine. T-Pain has had "his Auto-Tuned swagger jacked by everyone from Kanye to Lil Wayne, but he has kept his sound fresh with a bottomless bag of hooks and a grainy rasp that the computers can’t buff away," applauds Blender.
- Puerto Rican hip hop-reggaetón duo Calle 13 drop Los De Atrás Vienen Conmigo (The Ones Left Behind Me Are Coming With Me). The Houston Press can hardly contain its excitement: "Combining the fun of its debut with the follow-up's sonic adventurism, Conmigo is a genre-redefining — if not genre-shattering — triumph." The New York Times is just a wee bit more reserved: "Few hip hop or urban acts, in any language, match so much ambition to so much fun."
- American Idol runner-up David Archuleta releases his self-titled debut. Described as "one of those once-in-a-decade pop voices" by Billboard, the 17-year-old singer is "too sweet to be sexy," according to Rolling Stone. "[Y]ou glimpse hints of how his innate tenderness might triumph if he weren't saddled with the most generic writing and production money can buy," laments Entertainment Weekly.
- R&B singer and longtime Kanye West collaborator John Legend releases his third album, Evolver. "Even when soul singer John Legend is proposing one of the traditionally worst ideas in romance — sleeping with his best friend — he still makes a pretty convincing argument," chuckles The Los Angeles Times. "Smooth to a fault, Evolver solidifies Legend's standing in the pantheon of good soul singers, but greatness continues to elude him," writes The Onion's A.V. Club.
- Former A Tribe Called Quest frontman Q-Tip returns with The Renaissance after a 10-year "hiatus." AllMusic calls it a "worthy comeback for the man who's arguably done more to make hip-hop enjoyable than any other figure," while U.K. newspaper The Guardian underscores that the "album's frequent changes of mood and direction dazzle." Spin magazine agrees: "Up-tempo and uplifting, this largely self-produced record blurs distinctions between accessibility and avant-gardism."
