Pablo Chill-E and Quilapayún united by trap: “It is a true renewal of popular music”

This Friday, two of the most emblematic bands of the Nueva Canción Chilena presented a new single with one of the most popular artists in the urban genre. It is “Bored”, a title that brings together Quilapayún and Inti-Illimani Histórico with the ragman Pablo Chill-E, which was recorded during the pandemic.

From Pablo Chill-E’s circle, they assure that the artist coordinated meetings with the members of both bands, after learning that they were interested in collaborating with him. Thus, they created a WhatsApp group, where they shared ideas and chords until they reached the final topic.

Each of the parts were mixed by Jorge Fortune, a sound engineer who was also in charge of mixing his interpretation of The Cantata of Santa María de Iquique, written by Luis Advis towards the end of the 60s.

The story of “Boring” begins in the head of Eduardo Carrasco, the philosopher and musician founder of the Quilapayún group, who had the support of Fernando Julio from the band “El mercado de Testaccio”.

In an interview with Culto, Carrasco comments that the idea of ​​collaborating with the ragman Pablo Chill-E arose from a suggestion of his son, so he began to study the songs of Bad Bunny according to the number of stanzas and the structure they had .

While he wrote the original sketch of the lyrics, the man from “Vibras” added his own modifications, while the main base with the characteristic hit-hats of the genre was created by Xander, the beatmaker of Chill-E.

“It was fantastic to meet Pablo, we are admirers of urban music, which is highly undervalued in Chile despite being the most listened to,” Eduardo Carrasco says in an interview with Culto. Pablo has done an extraordinary job, he is very authentic, he has an excellent repertoire and he has also had great international backing —he says in reference to the recent collaboration of the ragman on Bad Bunny’s “Hablamos Tomorrow” for the album YHLQMDLG (2020).

But the opinion of the musician from Quilapayún about the genre was positive before working with Chill-E.

“There is a poetic element in trap and rap,” he says, “a true renewal within popular music.” It is fantastic and is present in all sectors of the city. When we made music with Víctor Jara that kind of expression didn’t exist.

When Quilapayún met with Fidel Castro during his visit to Havana in the early 1970s, the Cuban leader was interested in the music they made, which was unknown on the island.

—He asked us what could be done to import these influences into his country, so we proposed that he send a group of young people to Chile so that we could teach them.

He accepted and sent a commission of six musicians who joined Quilapayún, among them, Tresista Francisco Amat from the Manguaré group.

Thus, they mixed for a period of six months – where they also learned to play instruments such as charango and quena, as well as cuecas and songs by Violeta Parra – until they said goodbye with a concert in which they performed The Cantata of Santa María de Iquique.

Fifty years later, Carrasco contacted the Cuban to ask him to play a solo for “Bored”, the group’s most recent song. Thus, the Cuban guitarist sent the audio of a melodic line through his cell phone.

“The nice thing is that he’s linked to us.” He’s not a guy we pay to do his job and then leave, this is done with friendship, ”says Carrasco.

For his part, Ismael Oddó, who joined Quilapayún in 2003 after the death of his father —Willy Oddó, in 1991, a historical member of the band—, comments to Culto that the group’s relationship with Amat, “has endured for all this years”.

The lyrics of “Boring” owes its origin to the context of the pandemic, the impossibility of being able to leave and the abulia of the routine.

“When you are a prisoner of confinement, all the things that made sense no longer serve you.” You start listening to the songs you made over and over again until you get bored, ”says Carrasco.

In the topic they mention people like Alfredo Troncoso (Quilapayún’s manager) and the journalist Mónica Rincón, but according to the musician, they have nothing against them, but rather the opposite.

—We see her every day to inform ourselves about the repercussions of the virus, while we work permanently with it. Still, boredom is radical in this situation.

But the message of the topic (“Bored with Inti, Quila and Troncoso / everything that smells like left-wing speech”) not only alludes to the repercussions of covid-19, but also to the country’s political history.

—When we say “bored with the singing of the united people, I would have won if it had been up to me”, we mean the postponement, we hope that the joy will come from the year 88. There are many years and the thing does not come.

Even so, Carrasco believes that the National Plebiscite was a hopeful milestone for a sector of the citizenry, while he considers collaboration necessary in all aspects of society, including the arts.

—This song was born historical, due to all the family and musical events that it brings together, both from us, and from the populations and the urban genre. As Pablito says, you have to pay attention to “Chile ugly” and its music. We are on it.

For now, the video for “Bored” will be directed by the French Éduoard Salier, responsible for the Netflix series, The revolution, and will begin its recordings in Chile in early 2021.

At the moment, the musicians presented a video-lyric that you can see below: