Cinema de la Calle: Calle 13’s “La Vuelta al Mundo” Video

Words by Sabia McCoy-Torres—

For such an iconoclastic and rebellious act, Puerto Rico’s Calle 13 sure cleaned up at last year’s Latin Grammys, winning a record-setting eight wins for their LP Entren Los Que Quieran. And the project is still bearing fruit. With “La Vuelta al Mundo,” (“Turn the World Around”) rapper-vocalist Residente, the well-known face of the group, and behind-the-scenes producer Visitante ventured into old-fashioned love song territory, and now they’ve got an almost movie-like video to tell the story.

Far from typical musica urbana, this song sounds more like folk music with Al Green lyrics. French horns, flute melodies, fingers snapping, and guitar strumming compliment love talk (“I’m going to escape to the nearest constellation, luck is my oxygen, your eyes are my window” ) you might hear in wedding vows, while African derived djembe drums characteristic of music throughout the Caribbean tie this song to their native Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, the video, directed by Argentinean film maker Juan José Campanella, is a conceptually creative and charming story about a man who uses post-it notes to transform his stifling office world into a pleasant landscape to brighten the day of his co-worker/love interest.