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The duo took a huge leap on its second album, Residente o Visitante (Norte, 2007), borrowing from collaborators like Orishas (Cuban trova) and the Bajofondo Tango Club (electro-tango) as well as raising the stakes with bits of bossa nova. And Residente’s Spanish-language lyrics started looking beyond straight-up raunch to deal with immigration and cultural identity.
On the album’s first single, “No Hay Nadie Como Tú,” they partnered with excellent Mexican rock band Café Tacuba for a catchy hit that used a two-beat norteño groove and ended up sounding like Manu Chao; on “La Perla” they coaxed Panamanian legend Ruben Blades into singing and rapping a few verses. Though the beats are thoroughly electronic, many of the tracks feature a fat brass section, whose sound carries whiffs of New Orleans, Cuba, and even the Balkans. Calle 13 also mix in bits of Afrobeat, the lesser-known Argentine cumbia villera, and even old-school freestyle.