New Single: Calle 13 - "Vamo'a Portarnos Mal"


After the very disappointing “Calma Pueblo” (worst of the year material), Calle 13 unveils “Vamo’ a Portarnos Mal”, the official first single out of their fourth studio album Entren Los Que Quieran. The Puerto Rican duo has always been a house favorite, but there’s something going on, everything about this album seems to tear us apart, so far, everything has been a disappointment. Both songs only go as far as scratching a bit of metaphoric sense, they’re both militant songs baffled on chaos. See, while we appreciate the ego-centrism of “Que Lloren” or the social-political density of “Pa’l Norte”, Calle 13’s new songs are more concerned about the heroes in them, than the themes they fail to convey.

“Vamo’a Portarnos Mal” is miles better than “Calma Pueblo”, but still minor Calle 13, mostly because of its contradictory lyricism, which is all over the place. The song’s only consistency is its own inconsistency. Residente sings about behaving bad, yet there’s nothing in there that would defy social sense or scare a 9 year old. The music is a bit restrained, but it isn’t the problem; it’s the lack of substance in the lyrics that’s causing our discontent. You know that weird feeling many of us had with MIA’s Maya or Jay Z’s The Blueprint 3? I’m getting the same vibe from Entren Los Que Quieran (even the album title is tiresome).

Seems like we'll be getting a lot of Merengue hybrids this year, first Shakira's "Loca" and now Calle 13, but we get the feeling we will all forget about them when Rita Indiana y Los Misterios' El Juidero arrives next month, that's the definition of something exciting coming our way. Back to Calle 13; I’ll end up this post the same way I did last time, let’s wait for the album, perhaps these pieces sound undercooked in chops.