iLe: From Puerto Rico With Love And Fire

The Show On The Road with Z. Lupetin

What if you sang before you spoke? When you come from a vibrant San Juan musical family like iLe (the creative persona of Ileana Mercedes Cabra Joglar), it all makes sense. Singing has been in iLe’s bloodstream from day one: from listening to her actress mother and singer-composer grandmother, to joining school choir and then stealing the show as a teenager in her stepbrothers’ superstar Puerto Rican alternative hip-hop collective Calle 13.

She made her critically-adored solo debut iLevitable in 2015 and has become a master at gathering some of the leading Latin-music luminaries (from Natalia Lafourcade to Ivy Queen) and speaking truth to power through her music, celebrating and challenging Puerto Rico and its rich traditions. During the fiery Telegramgate protests, she collaborated her stepbrother Residente and Bad Bunny on “Sharpening The Knives” which focused on the unheard voices of local Puerto Ricans still suffering after Hurricane Maria.

It can be hard to describe ILe’s sound. She mentions that a little dose of feminism may be what dreamy boleros, Caribbean folk music and cheerful salsa of her childhood needs - after all, even the female-sung classics were often written by men. ILe isn’t afraid to upend classic genres by using hip-hop, trap beats and synth-psychedelia alongside ringing acoustic instruments and old-school Caribbean percussion to create a bigger technicolor soundscape. The more personal LP Almadura followed in 2019 and in this taping, we sit down to discuss her lushly cinematic and unapologetically political 2022 LP Nacarile.