Almadura - iLe (2019)

iLe, aka PG-13, aka Ileana Cabra Joglar, was part of the Puerto Rican hip hop group Calle 13, whom I’ve listened to and know a little about.

She’s since gone solo and charted a less hip hop, more traditionally tuneful course. This album won a Grammy for “Latin alternative” or whatever joyless label the Grammys have for these things.

There are a lot influences on display here. Picking out individual latin rhythms and styles is about as hard for me as identifying somebody’s accent, but it’s easy to use the pan-Caribbean term “salsa” along with whatever else you hear here.

I’d love to tell you more about the lyrics, which are rousing and smart and more than a little subversive from what I can tell. Unfortunately I still do way too much looking up words to go into much depth.

I listened through this maybe 3 times while was doing something else this morning, and I will probably start it over again in a few minutes. It’s fun, snappy, and well-put-together, even if i only catch every third word or so.