Residente looks back on his storied career with nostalgia and melancholy. On Thursday, the Puerto Rican icon released the seven-minute video for “Ron En El Piso,” which captures the musician reminiscing about his time on Calle 13 and his legacy in Latin music.
“This is about who we are, what we were. For all that we have, for all that we had,” he wrote on Instagram, referring to the song's lyrics. “For the crying, for all the laughing. For all the triumphs and for all the mishaps.”
The cinematic video opens with a cut of Residente in his youth inside a run-down record store filled with CD copies of Calle 13's iconic self-titled album. It sees a male character carrying the cut and closing his record store.
“It's not that I'm offended, but I feel old when kids call me a legend,” he raps. “I'm as young as before, but with fewer dates on my schedule. I don't have yachts, planes or clothes, but I hope the next series will surprise you.”
In the lyrics, Residente raps about becoming less relevant in his career as cardboard falls off a garbage truck before being picked up by a homeless man at the edge of a lake. The cut-out ends up flying over a town and a beach before looking up at a shooting star. The cutout comes to life as Calle 13 Residente, ridding the musician of his tattoos and gray hair. “I wanted to make peace with my brother to see if Calle 13 is coming back,” he muses, referring to Eduardo Cabra and iLe from the iconic Puerto Rican band. (Cabra “killed” his Visitante moniker from Calle 13 days in a 2020 video.)
The “Ron En El Piso” video fast-forwards to Residente today, with his salt-and-pepper facial hair, as the musician is met by women in white dresses and blonde wigs, as he revisits visual moments from his musical past. The video ends with Residente looking at a young version of himself lying on his deathbed before Residente closes the casket.
The video was preceded by two trailers, one of which was titled “El Bridis”, starring John Leguizamo. The video saw the singer walking through a city of people frozen in space while holding a glass of rum, referencing the track's title.
The new video follows September's short film “Problema Cabrón,” which captured him and rapper WOS as anti-fascist fugitives on the run from the police. Released 'Quiero Ser Baladista', a commentary-packed video featuring Ricky Martin in late July.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/residente-calle-13-ron-en-el-piso-video-1234945311/