Right now, Ileana Mercedes Cabra Joglar should be working feverishly at a recording studio somewhere in her native Puerto Rico, adding new songs to her much-anticipated fourth solo album.
But at 35, the artist known as iLe — one of the most luminous and visionary voices in contemporary Latin music — tends to get a bit claustrophobic about her creative process. Yet a handful of international tour dates, including Friday’s show at the Wallis in Beverly Hills, should provide a much-needed breath of fresh air.
“The concerts help me to escape whenever the seclusion of working on an album becomes too much,” she says in Spanish that sounds just as melodious as her singing. “I’m working on the new record in small increments, trying to decipher a couple of things that I can’t quite verbalize at this point. It’s a process that requires a lot of energy, time and dedication. The challenge remains to continue learning and exploring, to get to know myself a little better through my own songs.”
ILe was still in high school when she experienced global fame as PG-13, rapper and vocalist with Calle 13, the immensely successful band founded by her older brothers Residente and Visitante. In 2016, after the group had gone on an indefinite hiatus, she released “iLevitable,” a sprawling, elegant debut that sounded more soulful and sophisticated than anything Calle 13 had ever done. The album would win the Grammy for Latin rock, urban or alternative album in 2017.
“Working with iLe is incredibly rewarding,” says Cuban vocalist Daymé Arocena. Last November, she teamed up with iLe on the single “Por Ti” — a smoldering bolero brimming with old-fashioned analog warmth. “She was a role model for me when I was living in Cuba, and I always saw her, and the Calle 13 phenomenon, as something that was so distant. Having the opportunity to collaborate with her was like a gift to my inner child. And a gift to music too, because iLe is music.”
Her second and third albums — 2019’s “Almadura” and 2022’s “Nacarile” — expanded the premise of “iLevitable.” ILe was bent on expanding the avenues of Latin music, but she was going to achieve this by delving into the venerable genres connected to her heritage. She revisited the boogaloo explosion of late ‘60s New York, and studied the healing roots of Puerto Rican plena. She recorded a sumptuous bolero duet with salsa star Cheo Feliciano (“Dolor”), and invited radical keyboard whiz Eddie Palmieri to play piano on two “Almadura” tracks. In 2022, she channeled the hallucinogenic cloud of ‘70s psychedelic baladas on “Mentiras con Cariño,” a collaboration with the Black Pumas’ Adrian Quesada.
By the time she recorded “Nacarile,” the striking originality of her vision attracted a cadre of high-profile guests, from Argentine rapper Trueno and Chilean chanteuse Mon Laferte, to Mexican folk priestess Natalia Lafourcade and boricua reggaetón legend Ivy Queen.
“We listened to a lot of salsa at home when I was growing up,” she recalls. “Eduardo [Visitante] started with a ska group, then formed a band that played reggae and batucada. René [Residente] studied visual arts, but he would spend his days improvising rhymes in his room. It made perfect sense to me that they would form Calle 13, because I grew up in the same house, and I knew what kind of music we were all listening to.”
In 2009, Calle 13 recorded “La Perla,” a now iconic track with salsa pioneer Rubén Blades that mixed hip-hop with Afro-Caribbean grit. But in her solo work, it was iLe who made a concerted effort to rescue the old tropical formats from oblivion.
“It surprised me that people of my generation didn’t know who Cheo Feliciano or Eddie Palmieri were,” she says. “Maybe they danced to their music — they knew a couple of songs — but they were not aware of the actual people who recorded them. It shocked me, and I feel motivated to rescue, or at least remember, our cultural history. These older musicians are incredibly talented, and we must know about them.”
A song that sums up the essence of iLe’s aesthetic — her daring blend of past and future — is “Ñe Ñe Ñe,” one of the most revelatory tracks on “Almadura.” An airy plena, it combines a defiant anti-colonial message with call-and-response choruses and a virtuoso, retro-flavored piano solo. The bridge, however, uses compression and digital manipulation to conjure up a hypnotic effect, almost like a loop. Still, the track’s sole protagonist is iLe’s gorgeous vocal line.
“Everything feels so private and intimate at a recording studio, that it can also sound a bit cold,” she says when asked about the specific qualities of the song. “The piano solo is by Julio Boria, a young player who sounds like an old guy. We recorded that using my own piano at home, and it added a layer of warmth. I wanted it to sound like a modernized version of a plena, without losing the essence of its origins. ‘Ñe Ñe Ñe’ has a presence to it — it pierces the coldness of the studio — and I just love that.”
“My sister is never preoccupied about running against the clock,” said Visitante during a separate interview. “She is like an infinite hourglass, and in time, she will receive all the credit that she deserves for following her muse and selecting such an honest musical path.”
When Calle 13 stopped touring altogether, there was a generalized feeling in the industry that the band had imploded after so many sold-out tours and Latin Grammys won. I asked iLe if the group’s apparent demise caught her by surprise.
“It was a natural development,” she says. “Too many things happened during those 10 years. I think we are still processing many of those experiences, because we didn’t have time to do it then. At one point, all of us shared the same need to explore different directions on our own, and I think that’s a healthy need to have. Sharing work and family leads to many beautiful moments. But it can also get a bit intense.”
In retrospect, iLe realizes that her solo career may not have taken off if Calle 13 had stayed together.
“An unconditional commitment to a family project can make you lose yourself,” she reflects. “Obviously we continue spending lots of time together as a family, and it’s really nice to connect from a different perspective. My solo work gave me the opportunity to let myself go, and find a sense of liberation through music.”
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