Residente and Jessie Reyez shared a stripped-down version of “El Encuentro,” their favorite collaboration from Residente's latest LP, Las Letras Ya No Importan.
“El Encuentro” is a sleeve duet about a late-night meeting between two ex-lovers, neither of whom can ultimately bring themselves to consummate the meeting. While the studio version of the song is already largely an acoustic affair, the new live session version finds Residente and Reyez accompanied by just a guitarist and a string quartet. It's an emotional performance, with Residente and Reyez singing, sometimes with each other, until they finally manage to turn around and face each other at the end of the clip.
The “El Encuentro” live session video follows a similar Residente released in May for another Las Letras Ya No Importan track, “Entre Los Escombros” (or “Under the Rubble”), featuring Palestinian singer Amal Murkus. “I wrote this song out of pain, amidst the shelling of Gaza. I see my son in each of the children who were massacred,” Residente wrote on Instagram at the time. “Through music, I try to manage the helplessness that I feel like I can't do more than that. The truth is, I don't understand the silence of many fellow artists, it makes me lose hope in humanity.”
The resident was released Las Letras Ya No Importan back in February. It marked his second solo album and his first since his 2017 self-titled debut, which he made after leaving influential reggaeton group Calle 13. Along with Reyez, the album features contributions from Rauw Alejandro, Christian Nodal, Busta Rhymes, SFDK , Ricky Martin, even Penélope Cruz (who provides narration and appears in the video for “313”).
“I love all these partnerships,” Residente said Rolling rock earlier this year. “What I love about this album is that it organically includes people that I value, that value me, that deserve to be there and where there's that mutual respect.”
Residente will hit the road this fall in support as Las Letras Ya No Importan. The tour kicks off with shows in Spain on September 14th and 15th, followed by shows in New York and Los Angeles on September 18th and 20th. Residente will then tour South and Central America for most of November before delivering a hometown show in San Juan, Puerto Rico on December 7th.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/residente-jessie-reyez-live-performance-el-encuentro-1235053956/
