iLe Tells All: Loving Puerto Rico, Protesting Its Government, And Making Music With Bad Bunny And Residente

By Lucas Villa


In Puerto Rico, emotions are running high: within the past few weeks, thousands of people on the island have channeled their frustrations into assembling mass protests that resulted in Governor Ricardo Rosselló resigning from office. It’s a movement that derived support from some of the island’s biggest superstars, as local artists joined protestors in the streets and aired their grievances with Rosselló's administration through music. Among those translating their anger into song were rappers Bad Bunny and Residente, who teamed up with singer-songwriter iLe to make “Afilando Los Cuchillos,” a pointed acknowledgment of the power of the people that have earmarked this revolutionary moment.


The 5-minute track tears into Rosselló and his cabinet, who came under fire right after 889 pages of damning chats were leaked by the press. Page soon after page of the chat transcript showed officials using homophobic and misogynistic language to talk about the people of Puerto Rico and joke about the bodies that amassed in the Office of the Medical Examiner in the aftermath Hurricane Maria. Nevertheless the song goes further than that — it brings up the corruption and unrest facing the island decades before the disgraced governor’s appointment. ILe, whose full name is Ileana Mercedes Cabra Joglar, passes judgment on the chorus, singing, “We must pluck the marijuana from the patch / so that no one takes advantage of mine.”


For iLe, the revolution encapsulates the tenacity of the Puerto Rican people. The former member of the politically-charged categorize Calle 13 uses her music to call out injustice and unrest. In May, she released the album Almadura, which touches on crises plaguing Puerto Rico that precedes Rosselló's rule and Hurricane Maria. She’s not alone in her organic gravitation towards creating a statement, either: As #RickyRenuncia raged on, artists like Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, and Anthony Ramos all voiced their support for protestors by way of the social media, while Daddy Yankee and Ricky Martin joined protestors in the streets of San Juan. For Martin, the cause was especially personal: He was directly named in the leaked chats by Puerto Rico’s former chief financial officer Christian Sobrino, who stepped down from his post soon after attempting to mention the singer is gay because he is sexist. Martin challenged the homophobic messages by posting Instagram videos to his 12.4 million followers.


While weeks of protests eventually led to Rosselló’s resignation, efficient August 2, the battle is still far from over: His justice secretary Wanda Vásquez is set to take his spot although she publicly announced that she would prefer not to. Given that the leaked chats point to possible corruption inside the Rosselló administration as a whole, Puerto Ricans are pushing for structural change, rather than more of the same.


And iLe is willing to continue the fight. The Latin Grammy-winning singer spoke with MTV News from the ground in San Juan about joining the #RickyRenuncia movement, an artist's place in the action, and what it meant to prepare the emblematic song that became both rallying cry as well as a soundtrack for a movement.


MTV News: How did "Afilando Los Cuchillos" come with each other? What was the method of working with Residente and Bad Bunny?


iLe: It was an initiative of my brother, René, and Benito [Bad Bunny]. They asked me to write the chorus and to sing it. The music was made by Trooko, who is from Honduras. We were sharing the same anger because the Puerto Ricans. We were all in the moment of what was going on here. I think it all came of course expressing in our own way what we were feeling.


MTV News: What was the answer to “Afilando Los Cuchillos?” 


iLe: I think it's become almost like an anthem for protesting here. Any time As soon as I have been going to the protests, there really are people in their cars listening to the song and the volume is very high, folks are singing it in the loudspeakers, or someone has a speaker with the song on and repeating. I think it's a song like an energy booster for people.


MTV News: how come do you suggest it’s crucial for artists like yourself to get involved with the protests?


iLe: I think it's essential as an artist to be present every time, especially with the situations that happen where you were place on Earth and raised. People tend to idealize artists. Being present is one of the greatest roles of being an artist, and I think being present as a citizen, as a Puerto Rican in this case, is needed required for people to connect more directly with the same emotion. That solidarity is very important.


MTV News: You and your brother were on the ground for much of the protests in San Juan. What was that experience like?


iLe: It's a very exhilarating moment for us because we are not used to protesting in big masses. It's a little bit frustrating to be able to see people take advantage of us and we don't notice it so clearly. We don't realize it. I think what happened with the government this time was so obvious for the people that it was impossible to don't think about. In my heart, I was expecting something massive, nevertheless I was not confident if it was going to be the same few groups of people protesting.


It was very shocking to be able to see so several protesting for one cause without political parties involved,  just with the same intention: To protect our island and our dignity from these people that are making fun of us and taking our cash, education, and health for their own benefit. I think it was a very strong and key message that we just accomplished one piece of it, yet we have a lot of work to do.


MTV News: Young people in particular people led so much of this work — what made that movement unique for you?


iLe: There were people of all ages and genders. [But] a lot of young people who have this energy, and this strength, and this fearlessness that was required. It worked like a domino effect. That energy was transmitted to the rest of the people and made each person more powerful. For me, that made me so proud.


MTV News: What do you hope the future has in store for the people of Puerto Rico? 


iLe: We're little by little focusing on what we have to do at the time we have to do it. I feel very confident about my people: They all seem very clear on their objectives, to what they desire to carry out. To me, that's the correct thing to do — be organized, be very focused, and work peacefully however firmly to prepare these people who of course and clearly don't love the nation as they should, to not symbolize us.


MTV News: What do you hope the rest of the world learns about Puerto Rico in light of this revolution? What do you hope other people learn from the revolution itself? 


iLe: I think finally we have shown our true selves. I've known since I was little that we've habitually had that inner strength indoor of us. I feel so happy to be alive and to be living in this moment. It's something historic and it's something that should never be forgotten.


MTV News: I think a lot of folks are learning that protests get things done and make things happen.


iLe: Exactly. In Puerto Rico, we used to be the opposite. We used to think that going into the streets wouldn't make any change. Right now clearly we have done so much. It feels good that this accomplishment was made from the people — from our own people. No one did this for us. We did this ourselves and that's an excellent gift.


MTV News: What made you aspire to talk about the political unrest in Puerto Rico on your album Almadura, even before the #RickyRenuncia movement?


iLe: I was seeing the necessity of letting go of a lot of things that I was feeling indoors. I think we have habitually been in crisis, nevertheless it has been tough to acknowledge because we have been sedated during the years. It has been very complicated for us to react any time we are mistaken with our own history and around what is actually going on in the island. I think little by little we've understood more of what is actually going on.


I began writing the album before Hurricane Maria because I have routinely felt frustrated with the scenario in Puerto Rico. I know we have so much pride that we don't show. I felt the necessity of expressing  how I was feeling, and of recognizing everything that we have suffered and to use that to confront our reality.


MTV News: How does your music inform and inspire your activism?


iLe: I feel fortunate to have grown up in a family member that has taught me well to love my own nation and taught me things that they weren't teaching me in school]. T me self-aware, and conscious about things that are essential. I don't take for granted what I have or what I don't have. I think it's crucial to speak about how we are feeling and to send a message. It's very needed, especially nowadays that we're living in a transitional moment worldwide. That's why we need to be very clear with the message that we wish to send.


MTV News: On one of your songs, "Odio," you talk about the agitation with the government response to Hurricane Maria while the music video revisits the Cerro Maravilla massacre. Why did you determine to mix the past with the present?


iLe: When I wrote the song, I was thinking about hatred itself. In social media, it's almost like a necessity for people to write things that are destructive as an alternative opposed to things that are more constructive to our society. Even media finds ways to put a headline or something that promotes hatred just to have better ratings.


Any time we did the video, [director] Cesar Berrios [and I] thought about several opportunities. Cerro Maravilla happened in Puerto Rico in 1978. We thought that had to do a lot with situations that still happen right now. It's an example of a situation where hatred was very present. It was a situation that was very painful for Puerto Rico in the '80s, nevertheless younger generations do not actually know that this happened because they don't talk about that at school. It's not segment of the brainwash that they attempt to do. It was very needed to find a way to keep our memory alive and finding a way to learn from it, to not repeat it, and to be aware of what can take place with our society.