Calle 13 – “Entren Los Que Quieran” (2010)

The
first three by Puerto Rican duo Calle 13 were all masterworks of music. Their
self-titled first production was highly influenced by reggaeton which was
probably the most popular musical genre in Latin America at its time; their
second piece Residente o Visitante continued to have a few reggaeton
influences but it was highly more inclined to alternative hip hop and Latin
sounds; their third production Los de Atras Vienen Conmigo completely
said “goodbye” to reggaeton and focused on other musical genres such as
alternative hip hop, cumbia, salsa and even electro; this new production, like
its predecessor, doesn’t have any contact whatsoever with reggaeton and instead
focuses on other world-like genres where there can be found influences from the
usual hip hop, Hawaii, India, Broadway, rock music, merengue and even Western
cinema.

I
had been waiting for a long time to see what would be Calle 13’s new album and
what types of music would this new production explore seeing that in each album
new musical genres were being taken as influences. When it finally came out I
was very excited, I mean quickly went out, bought it and when I put it in my
car I was, first of all, laughing my ass off but then I was completely amazed. Calle 13 just never seizes
to amaze me. This album is way more personal and it focuses more on social
issues like political, death and the use of guns which can be seen in songs
like “La Bala”, “Vamo’ A Portarnos Mal”, “Preparame La Cena” and “Digo Lo Que
Pienso”. A few artists that helped the duo complete this masterpiece are Omar
Rodriguez-Lopez, of The Mars Volta, Seun Kuti and Toto la Momposina. Overall
the album is just a masterwork of music and it has to be one of the greatest
productions from any Latin American and overall artist.

Rating:
5 stars out of 5.