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Calle 13
Biography
It took the Puerto Rican duo Calle 13 about a year to catch on, after quietly debuting stateside in 2005 on White Lion, a small reggaeton label in partnership with Sony BMG, but catch on they certainly did. By the end of the following year, Calle 13 had become the hottest new artist in popular Latin music, garnering Grammy attention as well as widespread critical notices and steadily mounting album sales. Comprised of vocalist Residente (born René Pérez Joglar) and producer Visitante (Eduardo José Cabra Martínez), the duo isn't a standard reggaeton act, which partly explains why the pair went unnoticed for a while. Make no mistake, though. To a degree their music is reggaeton -- the unmistakable "dem bow" rhythm often anchors their songs, and Residente does rap over the beats as you might expect -- but there's much more to it than that. For one, the beats of Visitante are inventive, incorporating aspects of hip-hop and characteristics of electronica, and are a world apart from the norm (e.g., Luny Tunes). Secondly, the raps of Residente eschew reggaeton clichés, showcasing a healthy sense of humor and an almost clownish approach to sarcasm (à la Eminem) -- again, a world apart from the kingly bravado of most reggaeton vocalists, and the obligatory glimmers of misogyny and violence that accompany such streetwise swaggering.