[Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.] Griselda Flores (Billboard) interviews Puerto Rican rapper, Villano Antillano (Reinaldo Santiago Pacheco), who states, “I’m not striving for tolerance, nobody has the power to ‘tolerate’ me, I yield that power myself.” [To listen to her recently released “Session #51,” see link below.]

Villano Antillano is a force to be reckoned with.

The Puerto Rican rapper, who broke out in 2018, carved a lane for herself in a male-dominated genre normalizing a queer perspective in a space that’s often tainted by toxic masculinity. “There is no tolerance for women like me in the genre I have forcibly inserted myself in,” the “Vocales” singer tells Billboard. “To say there is would be a delusion and an attack on the works of queer people everywhere who consume said genre.”

A leading voice in the Latin queer and trans artists movement, which aims to spotlight LGBTQIA+ musicians who are often overlooked by the mainstream, Antillano most recently teamed up with Argentine producer Bizarrap for a hard-hitting EDM-infused rap session.

In it, Antillano is as unapologetic as ever, speaking truth to power. “If I have a flow cabrón, if I’m adding pressure, if you can’t deal with me, my bad … I am the boss and you are the secretary, you’re not at my level to be my adversary,” she fiercely spits in “Session #51,” which dropped Wednesday (June 8).

Below, Antillano kicks off our Pride series featuring queer Latin artists who are helping reshape their genre.

How have you helped create tolerance in your genre?

There is no tolerance for women like me in the genre I have forcibly inserted myself in. To say there is would be a delusion and an attack on the works of queer people everywhere who consume said genre. I have helped make queer musicians and artists more visible perhaps; but tolerance, respect and equality are not things we have at the moment. That’s just the truth. Also, I think it’s important to state that I personally am not striving for tolerance, nobody has the power to “tolerate” me, I yield that power myself and demand respect over all things.

As a queer artist, how have you helped reshape your genre?

The same way I reshape the world every time I step outside, by taking up space unapologetically and forcing people to understand that they have no dominion over queer people. [. . .]

For full article, see https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/villano-antillano-pride-reshaping-rap-genre-1235083986

Here is “Session #51”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvz97-lNPH8

Also see “Bizarrap & Villano Antillano release an epic collaboration,” by
Jeanette Hernandez, Remezcla, June 8, 2022
https://remezcla.com/music/watch-bizarrap-villano-antillano-release-an-epic-collaboration-music-sessions-51