Residente is looking back at his storied career with nostalgia and melancholy. On Thursday, the Puerto Rican icon released the seven-minute video for “Ron En El Piso,” which captures the musician looking back at his time in Calle 13 and his legacy on Latin music.
“This goes for who we are, what we were. For everything we have, for everything we had,” he wrote on Instagram, referencing the song’s lyrics. “For the crying, for all the laughter. For all the triumphs and for all the screw-ups.”
The cinematic video opens with a cut-out of Residente in his youth inside a worn-out record store filled with CD copies of Calle 13’s iconic self-titled album. It sees a male character carrying the cut-out away and closing his record store.
“It’s not that it offends me but I feel old when the kids call me a legend,” he raps. “I’m as young as before but with fewer dates in my schedule. I don’t have yachts, airplanes, or clothes, but I hope the next punchline surprises you.”
In the lyrics, Residente raps about becoming less relevant in his career as the cardboard cutout falls out of a garbage truck before being collected by a homeless man at the side of a lake. The cut-out ends up flying over a city and beach before it looks up at a shooting star. The cutout comes to life as Calle 13 Residente, ridding the musician of his tattoos and gray hairs. “I’ve been wanting to make peace with my brother to see if Calle 13 returns,” he reflects, referencing Eduardo Cabra and iLe from the iconic Puerto Rican group. (Cabra “killed” his Visitante alias from the Calle 13 days in a 2020 video.)
The “Ron En El Piso” video fast-forwards to Residente today, with his salt-and-pepper facial hair as the musician is met by women in white dresses and blonde wigs, as he revisits visual moments from his musical past. The video ends with Residente looking down at a young version of himself laying in a death bed before Residente closes the coffin.
The video was preceded by two trailers, including one titled “El Brindis,” which starred John Leguizamo. The video saw the singer walking around a city with people frozen in space while holding up a glass of rum, referencing the track’s title.
The new video follows his September short film “Problema Cabrón,” which captures him and rapper WOS as anti-fascist fugitives running from the police. He released “Quiero Ser Baladista,” an equally commentary-filled video featuring Ricky Martin in late July.
