iLe - “Lo Que Yo Queria”

SXSW 2023 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 9

Pairs Well With…Mon Laferte, Lido Pimienta, Calle 13

Nacarile is an explorative record, but one delivered with delicacy and patience that speaks to the experience of iLe as a genre-hopping artist. Her start came early, collaborating with her brother Residente before joining the initial lineup of Calle 13 at just sixteen years old. The Puerto Rican artist’s solo career as iLe began with 2016’s iLevitable, a turning point of her evolving into her own artist while keeping a rooted foot in her home island’s musical traditions. That path of growth is peaking on Nacarile, iLe’s third full-length and a record that revolves around a core of romantic Puerto Rican ballads into new electronic pop, ambience, dream pop, and hip hop spaces. She isn’t merely teasing these other genres into her music, rather iLe fully commits, resulting in textures that feel unique while grounded in rock-solid roots. An album bursting with creativity without ever sounding busy or out-of-place, iLE has crafted a masterful progression of Carribean folk and pop in both her inventive songwriting and crisp and raw vocal tone. (Kevin McStravick)