Residente is teaming up with a Puerto Rican pop icon for his new song. Ricky Martin appears in the rapper’s wild and cinematic music video for “Quiero Ser Baladista,” released today (July 26).
“Quiero Ser Baladista” follows Residente’s final tiraera track, “Bajo y Batería,” which dropped earlier this month. He first teased the new song yesterday in the video titled “La Ruptura.” In the short clip, he talked about his break off from Latine rap and not wanting to fight anymore. Residente also revealed his ambitions to be the “first bald baladista.” He added in Spanish, “Even if you don’t trust me, I’m going to be a balladeer. I have a plan.”
Residente enacts his plans to be a balladeer in the “Quiero Ser Baladista” music video, which plays out like a nearly 10-minute short film. He co-directed the video with Pepe Avila del Pino and created it with 1868 Studios, his production company with Sony Entertainment. Residente also collaborated with World Junkies on the video.
The black-and-white video has some brutal scenes. Residente kidnaps Afo Verde, the chairman and CEO of Sony Music Latin-Iberia, and transforms into a balladeer in front of him. When Verde is not on-board with the idea, Residente shoots him dead. Ricky Martin then appears and shoots and urinates on Residente’s body. When he puts on Residente’s signature [R] hat, he channels the rapper’s fierce and fast-paced flow. Ricky then throws off the hat to end the song in a truly baladista moment.
Last year, Residente won the Entertainment Lions for Music award for “This Is Not America” at the Canne Lions Awards. Since then, he has focused more on growing as a visual artist in addition to being an iconic Latine rapper. Before dropping “Bajo y Batería,” he put out the precursor video “Residente Y El Cura,” where he got a priest’s blessing to release his final tiraera. He is masterfully bringing together his love of music and film.
Check out the music video for “Quiero Ser Baladista” below.