Which are your favorite Residente quotes?
Residente is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, writer, and filmmaker. He is globally recognized as one of the founding members of the Puerto Rican alternative rap group, ‘Calle 13’. He released five albums with ‘Calle 13’ before beginning his solo career in 2015. Up to now, he is the most awarded Latin artist, successfully earning four Grammy Awards and 27 Latin Grammy Awards to his name.
Residente has also successfully ventured into the film industry. He produced a documentary about his rap group ‘Sin Mapa’ and a documentary about himself ‘Residente’ along with some of his own music videos.
Here’s a collection of the best Residente quotes:
50 Famous Residente Quotes & Sayings
1. “The point of the podcast is to compare and contrast DNA results, and to build on the concepts that bind us, despite racial and cultural markers.” – Residente
2. “I needed to connect with the people in a way that I hadn’t before.” – Residente
3. “To me, swag means having friends like Ruben Blades, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, who like the art I make.” – Residente
4. “I want to work with and interview other public figures, people that are wildly varied and from different walks of life, interested in finding out about their ancestral roots, so we can unpack what all of that means and bring to light not just our racial differences, but really our similarities across cultures.” – Residente
5. “I’m just one person planting a seed. The idea here is for others to take note and follow suit.” – Residente
6. “If another person, another artist, or someone with great means can select a town and go to work with them, it would make all the difference.” – Residente
7. “So I just feel like music’s lost a sense of reality and identity. I wanted to create an album where I tackled certain themes, and follow through on its authenticity by traveling to the countries I have roots in.” – Residente
8. “To speak about Trump — you shouldn’t talk about him, because you give him more power. You should talk about the laws.” – Residente
9. “Artists are supposed to make music because they have a reason for making it. My music always has a purpose. My lyrics, they have a purpose. I don’t make music because I want to sell an album or fill a concert or [for] my music to be on the radio, it’s because I really feel it. If you’re not making music for that reason, then you’re a business person.” – Residente
10th of 50 Residente Quotes
10. “Each lyric that I write, I do it because it’s something that I feel — not because I want to sell on the radio. It’s because I feel it.” – Residente
11. “I started to create concept albums like that but then I stopped because it was very hard. It was going to take me, like, two years, so I started to work with what I was feeling and what I have in my head. You have a different kind of freedom on the album, it’s nice.” – Residente
12. “There were a lot of people [there] that don’t go to the [Wall Disney Concert] Hall. That was the first time for them. It was nice to see them and also feel the energy.” – Residente
13. “The job I’m doing is the job that a lot of people on the island are doing, and it’s simply helping those affected by the hurricane.” – Residente
14. “I am partnering with architects to build homes for families who lost everything, who no long have a roof over their heads. That’s in the works now, but it’s going to take some time because the politics and bureaucracy of the island might not let me bring in help. It’s been very complicated, to say the least.” – Residente
15. “What I learned about art is that is has to be a reflection of what you feel and what’s surrounding you.” – Residente
16. “The main point, for me, was to create something real around the music; to evolve the music so it can grow.” – Residente
17. “We often connect through music, [but] I wanted to be precise with what I was doing with this new album.” – Residente
18. “Sometimes I felt like I was super small, like, ‘Wow, the world is huge!’ Sometimes I felt like the world is so small.” – Residente
19. “If I talked about war, I traveled to a specific country where I could collaborate with those directly affected by the ramifications of war. That reality — that’s what carries the album.” – Residente
20th of 50 Residente Quotes
20. “It’s not that it changed the concept of humanity for me more than it confirmed what I already knew: that we’re more alike than not; that we have many differences but also are the same in the grand scheme of things.” – Residente
21. “It’s a continuation of my work with DNA, with tracing your lineage.” – Residente
22. “I’m really just jaded with what’s going on in music, where you can sing about a place like New Orleans, but record the song or film its music video in Los Angeles.” – Residente
23. “I didn’t just go to help with food and water and material goods. I went to document what was happening as it was happening on the grounds and share it via social media so that the people could see for themselves what was going on.” – Residente
24. “Back then, with the OGs of salsa, for example, when they recorded a song that was festive or about partying, they would bring in the people, they would bring in women into the studio with them to dance and join in on the experience because that’s what they were creating, that sense of reality.” – Residente
25. “I had a really dark moment. I felt that I didn’t want to be here anymore. It was a moment that I’ve never felt before. I called my mom, I had a stadium full of people in Mexico waiting for me to perform, and I didn’t want to perform.” – Residente
26. “It also confirmed things I imagined about the state of other countries. In Africa, for example, despite it being such a powerful continent, there are parts where people literally have to fight to survive.” – Residente
27. “For my new album, I did collaborations that aren’t like the ones happening in the industry today. Nowadays, artists want to jump on a song because it’s a hit and doing so well. They’ll do it even if the collaboration doesn’t make sense.” – Residente
28. “The Philharmonic was a new energy because they were standing up and singing and cheering. Usually, people stay quiet and listen. They were listening but they couldn’t resist dancing!” – Residente
29. “In the song, I talk about that, about missing who I am, or who I was, since I first started 15 years ago.” – Residente
30th of 50 Residente Quotes
30. “I went to Utuado, Puerto Rico, a town that was totally devastated by Hurricane Maria, and is far away from the main city, so it’s practically forgotten about. They needed help, so I went with all the resources that were readily available to me.” – Residente
31. “Most of the people were my crowd, but I have a mixed crowd. Different genres and different ages.” – Residente
32. “I’m simply going to select a town, the same way I selected Utuado. I’m going to elect to work with communities impacted most by the natural disasters because some towns need more than others.” – Residente
33. “I have a priority order, and the first one is not to sell, it’s to challenge myself and make good music.” – Residente
34. “I wanted to go alone, without any big coalitions or press releases, because the way I understand it is anyone who wants to help their own country, there’s no need to make an announcement of it.” – Residente
35. “It was important to me because I arrived at a place [in life] where I needed something more than the music.” – Residente
36. “I love what I do and when I start feeling that I don’t like it anymore, I do other things. It doesn’t matter if I’m going to make money or not.” – Residente
37. “What I mean by “precise” is if, for example, I needed vocals from Africa, I traveled to Africa and worked directly with tribal voices.” – Residente
38. “For my birthday, my friends from high school and college, I connected with them, the people that knew me before I got famous. And that’s what I do all the time when I go back [to Puerto Rico]. I try to do things that connect me with the past.” – Residente
39. “And I’m really talking about the basics of life; the things that make us all cry and the things that make us all laugh or be happy. In that sense, we’re all very much alike.” – Residente
40th of 50 Residente Quotes
40. “I think we proved that we can make changes like when we took down the governor, but I think we still need more of that energy. It has to start from inside, from people’s heart. And that’s what I want, for people to start understanding and educating themselves. Someday maybe Puerto Rico will be a country that will make their own decisions because right now, we can’t even vote for the president.” – Residente
41. “The whole experience really just taught me about the human race, what that is in its most basic sense, the fundamental principles of what it means to be human.” – Residente
42. “I know that it sounds like a cliche, but it’s nice to pass through different countries and see yourself. Musically speaking, when I went to Africa, I was able to detect the Afro-Caribbean beats to understand where they came from. The rhythm and the tempos, sounds like salsa music, I was able to understand it better.” – Residente
43. “I’m older, so he knew my music from before. [Bad Bunny] came to my concerts when he wasn’t known and I have seen him grow so fast.” – Residente
44. “Ruben Blades inspired and has influenced my music. He’s like the Jedi Master.” – Residente
45. “People don’t understand what art is.” – Residente
46. “I always create concept albums. The first album was based on my DNA. We come from everywhere, so I went to Ghana, Burkina Faso, Niger, Siberia, China, Serbia, and Russia” – Residente
47. “And there are people already doing what they can with what they have for Puerto Rico. I’m doing my part.” – Residente
48. “Artists should not be afraid, and should say what they feel and think [about world events] as human beings.” – Residente
49. “I’m helping monetarily, and by bringing food and water to communities that need it most.” – Residente
50. “I needed to explore another level of reality, outside the confines of the studio.” – Residente
Summary
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