Puerto Rican singer and composer iLe just released a powerful video for the single “Odio,” which portrays events that took place on July 25, 1978, where two young Puerto Ricans fighting for the island’s independence were killed. Known as Cerro Maravilla, the tragedy was described as “Puerto Rico’s Watergate” in a 2003 story by the Associated Press.
iLe, who’s full name is Ileana Cabra Joglar, got her start singing with her brothers in the group Calle 13. But now, she’s an established singer in her own right. Her debut album, iLevitable, won the Grammy for best album in Latin rock, alternative, or urban music.
Inspired by conversations she saw on Twitter, iLe said that the video for “Odio” (which translates to “Hate” and was directed by César Berrios) was meant to recreate the story and educate those who don’t know of the events.
Shortly after the video was released, she sat down with Latino Rebels founder and In The Thick co-host Julio Ricardo Varela at Futuro Media in Harlem to discuss some of the implications of the video’s message, the inspiration behind it, as well as Puerto Rico’s current situation.
“It’s important that people know about the history, and do something about it, and maybe relate to the moments we were living today…” the Grammy winner told Latino Rebels, “We have been in an eternal hurricane.”
Check out the full interview below:
[…] the process we had people like Ismael Cancel and Ileana Cabra, who are ex-members of the band Calle 13. We were in Playback Studios, where Calle 13 and a lot of […]