Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not for the faint of heart, April 25, 2007
Sophomore jinx or no, the newest by Calle 13 is, uh, interesting. It starts with a university choir blaring profanities to see if the listener can be easily shocked. In comes "Tango del Pecado", nice Argentinean tango riff, with lyrics deeply tongue in cheek about Residente's avowed relationship with former Miss Universe, Denisse Quiñones. He deserves credit for summarizing the sentiments of every son-in-law-to-be who has experienced scorn or pure hatred by his loved one's parents, with a healthy, deeply cyinical dose of humor. And we've only gone past the first two tracks.
Most of this album is the usual Residente braggadoccio, mixed with irreverence, deeply sexual language (both suggested and direct), and absurd mental images to the extreme. Visitante's take on this (he claims this is a snapshot in the hectic life of Puerto Rico's fastest growing hip hop group) rings true. It lacks "playable" tracks, in the sense of radio-friendly hits, besides "La Cumbia de los Aburridos" (where Residente ridicules anyone who dares to dance it with extra physical baggage or lack of rhythm, as will probably be the case now that their music is the rage everywhere).
The album shows a deepening musical maturity, compared to which, the lyrics are a bit of a let-down. However, "Pa'l Norte" and "La Crema" are deeply political, brutally honest tracks. "La Crema" reminds us of what Calle 13 would have become had the guys not become famous in the past two years: in-your-face hip hop directness, on a track that states, essentially, that Residente is merely a product of the culture he's rapping about, warts and all. "Pa'l Norte" tells us that Puerto Rico is way too quick to dismiss the rest of Latin America, that the island is part of the entire continent, and that most objections to this are merely mental.
Then, again, this is not the clichéd, by-now tired gangsta rehashing of reggaetón images. "La Era de la Copiaera" deals with this, directly; somehow one says 'it is about time that reggaetón artists take an honest look at themselves', but maybe the song's shock treatment is the only shakeup powerful enough to evoke that self-criticism, merely because it comes from a potential foe to the recyclers. "Uiyi Guaye," had not been for a few self-love references, is an honest love(?) track that could find its way to radio (its "smooth talker one minute, crass the next" approach is simply hilarious, as is the cheap chorus). "A Limpiar el Sucio" and "Sin Exagerar" abound in parody.
Tego Calderón and Mala Rodriguez make delicious cameos on this album. Tego's hilarious bragging about owning Puerto Rican politicians rings so-awfully true after the "Coquito" affair, where a drug dealer turned record producer who was later assassinated turned out to be chummy with at least three politicians. Mala Rodríguez's track is deliciously crude; Residente sort of spoils it by being too direct, but her intervention definitely deserves heavy rotation on an iPod (the beat itself is pure headphone heaven). She satirizes Residentes sexual prowess (or lack thereof) in a song that couldn't make me laugh harder because it wasn't longer, no pun intended.
This is not musically stale by any means. This is not teen friendly, either; there's enough profanity here to shock the filthiest. However, it is real, and tends to buck any commercial trends. Evoke or shock, it serves its purpose well.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not for dumb people..., April 26, 2007
I was very surprised by this album in the sense that I did not expect it to be this good. The music is really what makes this album great. Calle 13 has evolved in a way not many hip hop/reggaeton artists do. But lets not forget Residente's lyrics, which evoke so many different feelings in you, its amazing (anything from pure disgust to laugh out loud funny). Is there profanity? Sure, more than I expected. Am I offended or somehow turned off by this? Hell no! For me that is actually part of its charm.
My top 6 tracks are:
Tango del pecado - truly innovative mixing neo tango with a reggaeton beat, loved it.
Sin Exagerar - pokes fun at most of the exaggerations made by most hip hop and reggaeton artists, while Tego blasts against the government. Excellent track.
Mala Suerte con el 13 - I like it because, at the end of the day, if you think about it, he is making fun of all the dudes who say they have big D*cks and last a lot in bed (among other undertones in the song). Certainly not for the faint of heart.
Pal Norte - great collaboration with Orishas, the song is thought provoking and a has a catchy corus to boot.
La Crema - if you are from Puerto Rico this song speaks to you (Un besito a Titi Chagua, classic).
La Era de la Copiaera - from the intro and outro, to the hook, this song is fantastic (Ah! Y dejen de fumar marihuana...)
Overall this album can't be classified under anything other than Latin. Sample it before buying because its obvious people either like it or hate it, however don't just trash the album just because of the profanity, to do that is to be as closed minded as the people they are making fun of...
"Por que no me chupan el pito...repito"
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Progreso Musicalmente, Pasao en las Letras, April 25, 2007
Bueno, como siempre Calle 13 demuestra que ellos Residente en la lirica y Visitante en la musica, son algo diferente de los otros del reaggeton. Ellos tienen una picardia particular, pero algunas veces y mas en este disco que en el primero, ellos han optado en ser un poco mas grotescos. Dos ejemplos de eso en en una cancion, de hacer caca o mear a tu pareja mientras tengas relacciones, si no me equivoco es la cancion, "Vamos a Faltar El respeto". Y Una cancion que no termine de escuchar, la cancion 6, decia algo de arrancar la rodilla, y yo que he visto en el pasado, heridas feas en la rodilla, rapido cambie la cancion. Lo que esperaba mas de este disco era la critica social. Hay en la cancion "La crema" y en la cancion que hace con Tego Calderon, de que tengo los politicos comprao, etc. De contenido sexual, hay mas en este que en el segundo, pero en una forma mas grotesca que uno escucha de otros artistas.
Pero en lo musical, la botaron al igual que hicieron en el primer disco, y lo mejor tambien que hicieron es que no suena mucho como su primer disco. En este disco uno escucha mas instrumentos, y tipicos de otros paises. No es la formula de solamente el MC y DJ de siempre que ya tienen a algunos aburridos.
Asi que a esos veteranos y envidiodos que hicieron criticas y comentarios baratos al respeto que Calle 13 se ganaron los Latin Grammys del año pasado, que aprendan su leccion. Ellos se lo ganaron porque trayeron un estilo novedoso al reaggeton, al igual que hizo Tego Calderon en el 2002. No siguen lo la misma pista y con el mismo tema. Asi que la Caballota fea esa, la paquita del barrio del reggeaton, y los dos vaqueritos de cayey, si no aprenden a evolucionar sin copiarse de otros o quedarse monotonos, pues mejor retirensen con dignidad. Tuvieron ya su epoca de estar pegao asi que aprenden a pasar la batuta si se van a quedar en lo mismo.
En fin hay algunos que elogian a Calle 13 por ser diferente a los demas, pero hay otros que los critican por las mismas razones. Musicalmente se inovaron de ellos mismos y espero que asi seguiran, pero de ser gracioso es una cosa y de ser grotesco es otra cosa, esa formula de comedia al estilo de Jackass, espero que la cambien
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