Villano Antillano grew up in Puerto Rico surrounded by salsa, rock and reggaeton. These influences have made her one of the most exciting rappers in the Latin music scene.
Courtesy of La Buena Fortuna
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Courtesy of La Buena Fortuna
Villano Antillano grew up in Puerto Rico surrounded by salsa, rock and reggaeton. These influences have made her one of the most exciting rappers in the Latin music scene.
Courtesy of La Buena Fortuna
Villano Antillano opens his debut LP. Substance X, by casting spells. “Light a candle and chant a mantra.” she sings— “Light a candle and chant a mantra.”
But this is not the beginning of calm, quiet meditation. A party of sex, drugs, love and bragging is about to begin. Soon, the 27-year-old Puerto Rican artist — also known as Villana — is one of her deepest strengths: her exquisite wordplay that distorts English and Spanish in a distinctly Caribbean way. let’s start doing …. While she’s confident, toxic, and assertive in the music industry, she’s also made it clear that she’s out of your league. boasts towards the end of the first track. “I am exercise.”
Across Substance XOn 11 songs, Antillano raps trap, reggaeton, rock, and dance beats, seamlessly incorporating different genres into her aural playground, showcasing her range while maintaining a cohesive vision. On her cover of her green-and-black neon album, she gazes unflinchingly ahead of her as she clenched her fist with one hand. The image resembles Shego from the animated Disney Her Channel Her series. Kim Possiblea cool girl villain in a story you can’t help rooting for, like a femme fatale.
“It’s about me giving people access to their own superpowers in the form of sound,” she explains of the mystical substance at the heart of the album’s title. We hope that you will be attuned to the raw, creative energy of being able to do anything.”
Antillano spent almost three years Substance Xdropped in December, but she managed to stay in the spotlight as she crafted a blockbuster over time. tyranny In 2019, she began recording numerous collaborations with emerging queer and female artists such as Young Miko, paopao, and RaiNao. Last summer, she teamed up with Argentinian producer Bizarrap for his performance of “BZRP Music Sessions #51,” which earned her over 184 million views on YouTube. Bad Bunny invited her on stage during one of his San Juan shows. summer without you trip.
Now, with her first full-length record and an essentially magical spiritual energy at its core, she can make a full statement for herself. Antillano says much of the album is a testament to her dialogue with her own femininity through the creative process.
“A lot of me as a musician grew when I started HRT [hormone replacement therapy] And when I began to approach my higher consciousness in this way — to turn my body in a direction that for me was the ultimate in alchemy, she says. To my femininity and femininity. Everything just clicked. … felt more in tune with something. ”
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“Mujer,” one of the album’s standout tracks, enjoys its relevance. Featuring politically-minded Puerto Rican composer and singer iLe, the song blossomed from a psychedelic journey, during which Antillano relied on her notebook, her app, to write down the chorus.
“I was riding a shroom and was losing it on the beach,” she says. No,’ so I wrote it down. I went back and made a song around it. ”
The result was a feminist rallying cry that centered women as powerful and threatening. It is a declaration against interpersonal and systemic violence, making it clear that care and compassion can and will turn into dominance and aggression when necessary.
“It’s very raw and direct. I like it because I also enjoy working out of anger, especially in social matters that affect us so deeply,” says iLe. I don’t want to get angry every day, but I feel that burden on myself, so every time I get the chance to work on a song that talks about these things, it’s also healing for me.”
The end of “Mujer” puts a clear focus on the femicide of transphobia and misogyny that plagues Puerto Rico and much of Latin America. reported more transgender deaths than the state. “Mujer” concludes with an audio clip of a rally in which the names of recent murder victims are listed.
“These names feel like names until they’re not. They’re people you actually knew,” Antillano says. “One of my friends was very close to the victim in the voice memo. Her name was mentioned. It inspired me because I have to accompany someone who is, and as a result interconnects us all.”
Throughout much of the album, Antillano is fixated on the world around her, ready to pick and see through her battles. That’s what she says. You are used to being defensive to always protect yourself in the face of danger or hostility.
Antillano finds himself breaking new ground as one of the most prominent Latino transgender artists currently making music, especially in genres and regions plagued with homophobia. . When she and Dominican rapper Tokisha exchanged a kiss on stage in San Juan last summer, the backlash from other artists and the public was so strong that it included death threats. It’s easy to imagine that representing the whole—making a social statement with her platform and artistry—can weigh on her. Maybe she just wants to have fun and she just wants to make music that feels good to her.
But if people insist on calling her “first,” whatever that means, she’ll see it as more liberating than anything else. If no one’s done it, that means there’s no expectations, no rulebook, I’m just making it.” [up] “I can’t tell you how to bring queerness to the table because that’s all I know. So I’m trying to do what I’m trying to do, and I’m trying to do it very well.”
And she does just that on the album-closing track, “Poli.” This is a tender ode to polyamory and growing up in her relationship. It’s a more vulnerable side of the artist than she’s shown before, Substance XOn a more pop-oriented background, she would never try to rob a lover of the beauty she cares so much about them and connects with others.
“Don’t you like being wooed or chased? It’s a pleasure,” she says. is my responsibility and your happiness is yours.”
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