Guest DJ: Puerto Rican Rap Legend Tego Calderon

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Tego Calderon, one of Reggaeton's top artists and producers, performs for fans in New York City. Scott Gries/Getty Images hide caption

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Scott Gries/Getty Images

Tego Calderon, one of Reggaeton's top artists and producers, performs for fans in New York City.

Scott Gries/Getty Images

Much like English-language hip-hop, Spanish-language rap and its close cousin reggaeton are both good and bad. At their worst, they're misogynistic, materialistic and mediocre. At their best, rap and reggaeton en Español can be hilarious, exquisitely groovy and joyfully erotic — mind-blowingly poetic genres, filled with storytelling and social commentary.

That latter category is where Puerto Rican artist Tego Calderón lives. Calderón is committed to making you shake your stuff and being hilariously self-deprecating (he calls himself "el nene feo de las lindas"/"the pretty girl's ugly boy"), but he's always poignant, combative and fiercely proud of his Afro-Caribbean heritage.

Tego spoke to us about his tumultuous childhood, his eclectic musical background (the man knows his heavy metal but also spoke at length about salsa), his new mixtape The Original Gallo Del País and modern Puerto Rican politics.

We've always loved Tego Calderón, and are so excited to have him on this week's show.

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Hoy, una de cal y una de arena para el hip-hop, el rap en español y su pariente cercano, el reggaetón. El contenido es frecuentemente misógino, materialista y mediocre. Pero el rap y el reggaeton pueden ser poéticos, pletóricos en historia y comentario social, exquisitamente bailables y eróticos. Es aquí donde encontramos a Tego Calderón. Su música siempre hace mover el esqueleto; sus letras tienen un sentido del humor único. Por sobre todo, es la creación de un artista lírico lúcido, combativo, y ferozmente orgulloso de su herencia afro-caribeña. Tego nos habla en el show de esta semana de su infancia difícil, sus gustos musicales eclécticos, su nuevo mixtape The Original Gallo Del País, y la situación política en Puerto Rico.

¡Nos complace tenerlo con nosotros!