Importan

A couple of years ago, Residente engaged in a war of words with J Balvin. Admittedly, it wasn’t a fair fight, at least on those terms, with one of Spanish-language hip-hop’s most accomplished artists putting the popwise Colombian reggaetonero on the defensive. Lurking beneath this back-and-forth volley of since-deleted video rants and dueling hot dog memes lay a deep seated criticism of the industry in which both artists operate, one where a dispute over representation at the Latin Grammys could prompt legitimate,…

Shortly after his friend Valentina Gasparini passed away, Residente began seeing the number “313” everywhere.  He’d been in a hotel, listening to one of Gasparini’s old voicemails, when a piano started  playing a haunting melody below him. He looked up at the clock: 3:13. Then he began clicking through audio notes Gasparini  had left him ​— she’d been an accomplished violinist and they’d collaborated on a lot of music together. The last one she’d sent him had been at 3:13 p.m. He’d responded with a message that…