Resident claims the America that is not the United States on his return to Madrid

Half an hour before the start of the concert, which last night, Saturday, was held in the open air at the Caja Mágica venue in a southern neighborhood of the capital, there was already a lot of movement among the public: the first row was packed and it was time to find holes on the sides in order to have a good view of the show.

“He is one of those artists who gets involved with people,” says Otto Otero, 25, a Colombian from Cali who has lived in Spain for four years and who yesterday experienced his first concert by René Pérez Joglar,

(San Juan, Puerto Rico, 44 years).

"Look at the flags that people carry: Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay... That's because it represents a popular sentiment throughout Latin America," he added.

Precisely,

gives its name to one of the Puerto Rican's most popular songs, one of those hymns that he made popular with his old band, Calle 13, and that last night was played right in the middle of a generous concert in singles and in attitude, with a thick sound and little given to nuances.

We are talking about an artist with a legion of faithful accumulated over almost two decades of career, first with Calle 13;

then, since 2015, alone, with the same tension between the popular and the syndrome of the external enemy (the people against the oppressor; Resident against all), in an effective narrative with urban rhythms, or what he himself has baptized as " social song”, which has led him to garner 31 Grammy awards.

More information

Residente and his monumental autobiographical song

“I went to each country to write a verse;

I wanted to write looking at and feeling the aroma of each place”, he revealed to his audience just before the first chords of a song with 12 years of life and bitter verses that have not lost an iota of their meaning.

"I am Latin America, a people without legs, but that walks," says one of them, and that hundreds of attendees intoned in the suffocating heat.

Marina Albadalejo, 31 years old, is one of those people who shows that she knows these lyrics by heart.

“I am Spanish, but I have lived in Colombia and I know what the song means,” she shared.

"Resident is demanding, but with respect for the other."

The evening, in any case, already promised intensity from minute one.

It was a quarter past nine when a whistle was heard from the speakers with the melody of the

(name by which the confrontation between singers through sharp verses is known on the scene) that has gone viral on YouTube in the last weeks —it accumulates more than 110 million visits in three months—, and in which Residente together with the Argentine producer and DJ Bizarrap insults the Colombian J Balvin, among other reasons, because “it is one thing to be an artist, another thing is to be famous” .

It is Residente, who from somewhere behind the stage is whistling the chorus of session 49 of Bizarrap, while the assistants put the lyrics —”I do this

have fun”—, with the entire band on stage and the vocalist Kiani Medina, who gave a whole lesson in delivery and voice last night.

Public attending the Residente concert, on Saturday in Madrid. JUAN BARBOSA

So, whistling and jumping from a corner, Residente made his appearance, black cap with the R on the front and a tight tank top, leaving tattoos and muscles in the air, in a reunion with the public from Madrid and beyond that has been long in coming. four years.

"I live in the Canary Islands, but I have come to see him because he is a Latin icon," said Alan Saucedo, 23, with a Paraguayan flag on his shoulders.

“About the

I don't have much of an opinion with J Balvin either, I think everyone does what they can with what they have,” this thoughtful fan will say.

It makes sense to start with a song of the moment, of the now, in order to place the show in the present of the artist, given that Residente has not released much new material and that the bulk of his gigs are based on songs from Calle 13 (this time, 13 of the 16 themes).

While the second song of the night plays,

a song that he popularized with

Voltio in 2016, in the distance a few hundred stragglers continue to approach the big stage of Río Babel, on the third and last day of a festival that, according to official figures, it has brought together 62,000 people.

Dare-te-te,

probably his biggest song, with 268 million listens on Spotify, sounds powerful and dry.

There are no metals in the band, something that did characterize the Calle 13 concerts: the bet is on guitars and percussion, all orchestrated by an agitated and direct René, whose body language became the visual representation of his seasoned verses , accompanied by careful visuals in red, blue and white, the flag of Puerto Rico.

In

we approach the witching hour (pinkish skies, planes crossing the sky every so often), always maintaining electricity and power.

"We are alive and breathing," says René, throwing a bottle of water, "so you can cool off."

The keyboards in

enrich the

, stitched with a constant bombardment of verses and with the bass drum drum and percussion

as linking elements between theme and theme.

The lyrics, one of René's most brilliant, recount the inequality caused by the system at street level, even in affective ties.

Puerto Rico has one of the highest social gaps in the world, increased by the consequences of several hurricanes, earthquakes and the coronavirus pandemic.

The Puerto Rican musician Residente, during his performance at the Río Babel Festival, in Madrid. JUAN BARBOSA

The most exciting moment, however, comes when he talks about his 7-year-old son, who is also present.

“As a father, there is a responsibility.

I invite you to demonstrate and take to the streets to support immigrants who suffer, ”she says.

It is the turn of

his most recent composition, which has deserved to be highlighted by

for its American anti-imperialist content, which sounds different here in the peculiar context of the just-closed NATO summit.

“What's new about his last big hit is that he doesn't focus on other artists or what he sees as failures in the music industry;

instead, he channels his anger into the violence and arrogance represented by the word America,” the magazine published.

“More than a hundred years of torture, the Nova Trova singing in the middle of the dictatorship.

We are the blood that atmospheric pressure blows, Gambino, my brother, this is America”, referring with some sarcasm to the theme

by Californian artist Childish Gambino.

This is a theme that is not new for an artist who defends the independence of his country for decision-making —Puerto Rico is a Free Associated State of the United States and a hotbed of universal Latin art, with names like Bad Bunny, Luis Fonsi , Daddy Yankee, Ricky Martin or Don Omar.

"The future is ours," this icon of Latin sentiment shouts from the stage and the audience goes into ecstasy.

The romantic verses of

and the spread of rhythm and energy that is

an intense night where, at least for an hour and a half, fun and conscience were one.