Finally, the last song I will be discussing is by Residente, a member of Calle 13 (who was featured in my very first post). As some of you may be able to point out after watching the music video, the video closely resembles Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.” This song is very popular in modern-day Latin America because every country can see themselves represented and heard when talking about their struggles.
Today’s song is…
This Is Not America by Residente
English Subtitles:
(These aren’t the most accurate, but it was the best one I could find)
Residente, formerly known as Calle 13, is a Puerto Rican rapper, who specializes in alternative rap and reggaeton. He, along with his brother, hold the record with the most Latin Grammys, 27 and 28 respectively. Residente is focused on advocacy work through his music, to which I would argue he does very well.
Before looking at the lyrics, I just wanted to point out the light show featured in the first few seconds of the music video. “A Logo for America” is a work by Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar trying to educate the public on what America truly is, the entire continent.
Let’s look at the lyrics:
A while ago, when you arrived
Our footprints were already there
Residente is referring to the “conquest” of Latin America and how for years it has been said that Columbus and the Spanish discovered and took over the land. The land could not have been “discovered” if there were people already there.
If you don’t understand the information, then I’ll throw it at you in cumbia
Bossa nova, tango or vallenato
These are musical genres that originate from Latin America.
2Pac is called 2Pac, after Tupac Amaru from Peru.
The artist is trying to point out that a lot of popular people of things have been influenced by Latin America, whether or not they know it. Residente knows that 2Pac is a very influential figure during his time and even now, so he wants to bring attention to the fact that Tupac’s mother named him Tupac because “[she] wanted him to have the name of revolutionary, indigenous people in the world. [she] wanted him to know he was part of a world culture and not just from a neighborhood.”
America is not just the U.S.A., papá.
This is from Tierra del Fuego to Canada
Again, reminding the audience that America is not just the United States, but an entire continent. Canada of course, is at the top of the continent and Tierra de Fuego is an archipelago at the end of the continent; despite its name “Land of Fire”, the land is actually very cold and snowy! He trying to encourage the listeners to be more open-minded about how they think and refer to things.
The machete is not only to cut cane
It is also to cut heads
A machete is a common tool from Spain that is widely used across all of Latin America. It is usually used to cut down crops and thick wood, but it has also been used for violence and warfare.
The narco-governments, everything they stole
Those who demonstrate and those who forgot
The persecutions, the coups
The bankrupt country, the exiles
The devalued peso, drug trafficking, cartels
Naming problems in Latin America (Venezuela and Argentina with their economic crisis and Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia with their drug business), etc.
Gambino, my brother, this is America
Reference to Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” and correcting him. This is NOT Residente dissing Childish Gambino, Residente obviously gets a lot of inspiration from him and its spoken with love.
Citations:
“2Pac: Artists: Black Music Project.” Artists | Black Music Project, https://www.blackmusicproject.com/artists/2pac#:~:text=Born%20Lesane%20Parish%20Crooks%2C%20he,not%20just%20from%20a%20neighborhood.%22.
2PacLegacy. “Why Tupac Was Named Tupac Amaru Shakur?” 2PacLegacy.Net, 15 Mar. 2021, https://2paclegacy.net/why-tupac-was-named-tupac-amaru-shakur/.
“Anti-American Art to Take over NYC’s Times Square Every Night in August.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 Aug. 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/aug/01/times-square-august-art-this-is-not-america-alfredo-jaar.
“Childish Gambino Shares New Song & Video ‘This Is America.’” Stereogum, 7 May 2018, https://www.stereogum.com/1994871/childish-gambino-this-is-america/music/.
“Latin America Music Map — What You Teach Your Kids Matters.” Online Education for Kids, 23 Jan. 2017, http://www.allaroundthisworld.com/world-maps-for-kids/world-music-map/latin-american-music-map/#.ZC-KoXbMK5c.
Martin, Eric, and Patricia Laya. “What Broke Venezuela’s Economy and What Could Fix It: Quicktake.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 9 Mar. 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-09/what-broke-venezuela-s-economy-and-what-could-fix-it-quicktake.
Montañez, María Camila. “On Puerto Rican Resistance: ‘Because with Red Nose and Machete, the Future Won’t Be Al Garete’.” Latino Rebels, Latino Rebels, 14 June 2017, https://www.latinorebels.com/2017/06/14/on-puerto-rican-resistance-because-with-red-nose-and-machete-the-future-wont-be-al-garete/.
Sandy Tolan, Euclides Cordero Nuel. “The Bitter Work behind Sugar.” Reveal, 7 Dec. 2022, https://revealnews.org/podcast/the-bitter-work-behind-sugar-update-2022/.
“’This Is Not America’: A Chilean Artist’s Newly Electric Message to Trump.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 June 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2016/jun/08/this-is-not-america-chilean-artist-message-to-trump-alfredo-jaar-logo-for-america
Ulubay, Gabrielle. “A Taino Descendant Speaks on Columbus.” MUSKRAT Magazine, 15 Oct. 2019, https://muskratmagazine.com/a-taino-descendant-speaks-on-columbus/.
I find it really interesting how this blog post kind of ties into the most recent topic we are discussing in this course. Was this intentional in any way so that you could experiment with your own advocacy project?
I love when songs reference each other, and this song does that in an interesting way. If songs like this are meant to do anything, it’s to start or contribute to a dialogue. I remember when Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” came out. It was talked about a lot.
This is a fantastic post! I loved your analysis of the lyrics and learned a lot from your post. Your inclusion of videos and images really helped make your post stand out while providing important visual information as well!
Really love this post! I think it’s so interesting how many aspects of United States culture are taken from Latin America. I think your formatting with all the videos and resources is a great way to engage your audience as well.