For someone like René “Residente” Perez, being in quarantine has meant fully developing projects by himself and bringing ideas to life from his home in Puerto Rico – a craft that is not foreign to him – and in his latest projects he looked to drive awareness while showing the world the true meaning behind the words “we are all in this together.”
While many struggle to see the definition, Residente, who often spills his feelings on paper while maneuvering them into lyrical compositions that develop into rap-style masterpieces, has spent his time alone writing and curating ideas to make his thoughts visual.
His most recent projects are songs accompanied by two long format music videos. One is titled “René” (also his birth name), and his latest project is called “Antes Que el Mundo Se Acabe” (Before the World Ends), which he paired with a music video that has many talking about the chain of 114 kisses from people in 80 different countries all over the world, including Bad Bunny and girlfriend Gabriela Berlingeri as well as Ricky Martin, Ben Affleck, Zoe Saldana and Lionel Messi.
During a time where social distancing is fully encouraged, the artist took on the task of finding couples willing to film themselves kissing.
“I selected the idea that I thought was the most simple one and it ended up being super complicated; different cultures mixed together in one kiss and that was the idea and then I started to write while using that idea, and that’s how the song started,” said the artist, whose recent projects highlight the uncertainty and doubt inspired by the pandemic.
“This is a song that I did maybe like a month ago, and I started to write because I was feeling anxious and like everyone else, worried without knowing what’s going to happen,” he added while admitting that the success of both videos has been greater than he expected.
Residente’s lyrics in Spanish say that he too doesn’t know where the path is headed, but he suggests it’s better to share a kiss throughout the wait. The music video, which begins with a kiss between René and his girlfriend, then follows a chain of kisses country by country. Though familiar faces were spotted, they don’t dim the light from the diversity in races, cultures, nationalities and social classes in the other participants, which the artist claims were challenging to find.
“It was very complicated, and also since I didn’t want to announce in my social media that I was making this video, so I had to find person by person, couples around the world, myself,” he said while explaining the process of reaching out to couples via social media with the proposal. “It was interesting, and also a learning process, because at first I thought that everyone can kiss. I knew [about differences] because of religions but I thought that in any country you can kiss.”
Beyond encouraging a make-out session before the world ends, Rene’s efforts to display inclusivity was meant to send the message that though the world is under the same circumstances, the experience for each person is different, and it varies on who they are.
The song’s release follows another intimate composition by the artist. His single René (also his birth name), which he released in late February, speaks on his personal challenges with depression, self doubt, suicide and lack of motivation.
“Rene is a song I did two and a half years ago, and I was passing through a really complicated moment,” said the artist who in April also dropped René (Quarantine Edition), a now viral in depth version that included his mother and an orchestra of 27 people as well as a pianist accompanying him with the melody – all from their homes.
“For me it was very important to do this version with my mom. You could feel the emotions – mine and hers – even more because of the situation. And to have the orchestra, all these people performing from their places, it was beautiful,” he said. “I wanted to be sure that I wanted to put it out and make sure that I was feeling well inside, so that’s why I ended up releasing this song two years and a half later.”
The rapper also admitted he was not expecting the success of the track nor the video: “I never thought that it was going to go viral,” he said while explaining that the reason why is that people need music that makes them feel understood.
