Puerto Rican singer iLe hits the road to promote her most personal album yet

iLe (Ileana Cabra Joglar) is well known to fans of Calle 13, the alternative rap outfit founded by her brothers Residente (René Pérez Joglar) and Visitante (Eduardo Cabra Martínez). She was just a teenager when she began performing with the duo — earning her the nickname PG-13 — but in the years following Calle 13′s (indefinite) hiatus, the singer has forged her own path in the music industry. Her Grammy-winning solo debut, “iLevitable,” released in 2016, took listeners on a nostalgic journey through the Latin music genres that have inspired her sound — including bolero, boogaloo and Latin big band. Her 2019 sophomore album “Almadura,” which translates to strong soul, was a call to battle against various forms of social injustice.

Both of those critically acclaimed projects were cohesive from the start. But her third studio effort is different: It came together during a pandemic that had upended her creative process. “It was weird at the beginning. I tried to keep writing songs and my only comfort became that — the songs,” iLe recalled. “Even though they were separate from one another, it ended up making sense because I just realized I was in an uncomfortable moment and it was okay for me to feel that way.”

As the album took shape, calling it “Nacarile” became a serious consideration. The 11-track project, released last fall, embraced the chaos — threading the uncertainty iLe felt into each song. It’s in the synthesized pop of “A la deriva” (“Adrift”), in the fiery rage beneath the dembow riffs of “ALGO BONITO,” (“Something Nice”) a collaboration with reggaeton pioneer Ivy Queen. It’s in the free-falling pop of “ (Escapándome) de mí” (“Running away from me”) which explores a fear of falling in love. (“Everything beautiful about you scares me,” iLe sings on the track.)

“‘Nacarile’ was my motivational way of transcending what I was going through,” said iLe, who embarked on a multi-city tour earlier this month in support of the album. Her first stop was Washington, D.C., where she performed to a sold-out crowd (and, blessedly, a live-stream audience) at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage on March 3.

Her set featured “donde nadie más Respira” (“Where No One Else Breathes”), which grapples with corruption and the abuse of power by Puerto Rico’s establishment. The song, she told the audience, was her “way of venting about the harsh reality we live [with] in Puerto Rico — the continual colonization that doesn’t end and how we deal with — or don’t deal with — that situation.”

The song, which iLe co-wrote with longtime collaborator Ismael Cancel, was released as a single in 2020, ahead of Puerto Rico’s gubernatorial election (and the U.S. presidential election) and on the heels of the searing protest song “Afilando los Cuchillos” (“Sharpening the Knives”). On the political track, which became an anthem for the uprising that ousted Gov. Ricardo Rosselló in 2019, iLe’s defiant vocals bookend verses from Residente and Latin trap superstar Bad Bunny.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s destruction in 2017, Puerto Rico’s colonial plight has come into focus in unprecedented ways. Bad Bunny, who made history as the first Latin artist to be nominated for album of the year at this year’s Grammy’s ceremony, has also made Puerto Rico’s struggles a recurring theme in his work.

“Suddenly, [Puerto Rico] has a spotlight. We are not used it,” iLe said, adding that the resulting discourse has helped to shift outsiders’ perspectives “of what is actually happening here and who we actually are and how strong we are as Puerto Ricans.”

“It’s still intimidating for many artists to be involved in what happens here socially and politically” iLe said. “It’s delicate … but I always say that it is important to be informed. You don’t have to be involved if you don’t want to, but you need to be informed.”

“ALGO BONITO” continues another through line in her discography as she and Ivy Queen reject society’s efforts to control women and their bodies. “Sometimes we do get angry and I think it’s okay to give ourselves permission to feel angry,” iLe said. “We as women try to fight against patriarchy and try to demand our rights, and every time we do that we feel like there there’s always something that wants to diminish what we want to say and how we want to say it.”

“That song comes from that frustration,” the singer said, “but in a very direct way — not letting that frustration take away my strength and my courage to keep going.”

She found a powerful collaborator in Ivy Queen, whose rise to success in the early days of a male-dominated genre epitomizes the song’s message. (I’ve never thought that I looked prettier quiet,” La Diva raps. “When I spit, it’s like fire and acid.”) “I needed to have that energy in this song, but with a lot of rage and power as well,” iLe said. “So, it was incredible to have her — I feel super grateful.”

iLe cites “ (Escapándome) de mí,” as one of her favorite songs on the album. While it taps into the same aimlessness that fuels the other tracks on “Nacarile,” iLe considers it one of the more “hopeful” contemplations.

“It’s basically a song about that leap of faith. And it represents that moment where I just decided to open up, to not judge myself as much and try to trust more in myself — you know, take that leap of faith and trust in everything that scared me at the moment.”

As a result of that approach, iLe said, “this album became a little more personal than I was expecting it to be.” But, she added, “I needed that time to pay a little more attention to myself.”

Adriana Usero contributed to this report.