Visitante

Eduardo José Cabra Martínez (; born September 10, 1979), better known by his stage name "Visitante Calle 13", "Visitante", or more recently, "Cabra", is a Puerto Rican producer, musician, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. He rose to fame in the Puerto Rican band Calle 13, which he co-founded with his step brother René Pérez Joglar (Residente).

Eduardo currently holds a record for 28 awards and 44 Latin Grammy nominations, winning 9 awards in the 2011 ceremony. He also has special recognitions such as the ASCAP Vanguard Award for his contribution to the development of new genres in Latin America. As part of Calle 13, Eduardo collaborated with high-calibre artists such as Shakira, Tom Morello, Silvio Rodríguez and Rubén Blades, among others. Eduardo has worked as producer for such international artists as Bad Bunny, La Vida Bohème, Chambao, Gustavo Cordera and Jorge Drexler.

Early life Visitante was born in Santurce, San Juan, in Puerto Rico. His father was also a musician. The family developed strong ties to the Puerto Rican arts community; his stepmother, Flor Joglar de Gracia, was an actress in Teatro del Sesenta, a local acting troupe, while his father was still a musician at the time. His stepbrother asserts that he and his family lived a relatively comfortable lifestyle growing up, placing them in a group of Puerto Ricans who are "too poor to be rich and too rich to be poor". Although their parents later divorced, the stepbrothers remained close.

Residente attended the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia, where he obtained a master's degree in art, while Visitante continued refining his skills as a musician, directing bands Kampo Viejo and Bayanga. When Residente returned to Puerto Rico the band Calle 13 was almost immediately put together.

Musical career

Calle 13 Visitante has been a musician most of his life, but it was not until 2004 that he began making music with his stepbrother, giving the band the name Calle 13. Visitante's influences come from numerous musical genres. Artists that were influential on him included salsa master Rubén Blades, singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez and writer Tite Curet Alonso. As musical director of Calle 13, he created several popular rhythms and elevated the group to significant standing in the genre.

Eduardo functioned as multi-instrumentalist, musical director, arranger, and producer of every album the band released during their 10 year career. All together, Visitante and his band Calle 13 have won 19 Latin Grammy Awards and 3 Grammys, the most by any group.

Debut album In January 2006, their first album, Calle 13, was released and was a large success. The band won its first three Latin Grammys, and became the group with the most wins that year.

Internationalization After the unexpected success of the initial album and after traveling around Latin America looking for inspiration, they released their second album Residente o Visitante in 2007. For this album, he collaborated for the first time with international artists such as La Mala Rodríguez, Vicentico and Bajofondo Tangoclub, among others. This was the band's first album to reach number 1 on the Billboard charts and the album for which they won their first Grammy Award for Best Latin Urban Album.

"Entren Los Que Quieran" is the album with the most Latin Grammy Awards in history, and Eduardo was nominated for the first time as best individual producer by the Grammy Awards.

After the band became known world-wide, and obtained multiple recognitions, Multi Viral was released, an ambitious album that took a year to record and whose production was made almost entirely in La Casa del Sombrero, Eduardo's production label. The record was produced by his own record label and was mixed by Michael Brower and Ritch Costey. For this album, Eduardo was nominated for the second time as the best producer of the year at the Latin Grammy Awards.

In 2015, he decided to take a break to take on individual projects.

Cabra In 2020, he began his solo music career as CABRA, shining the spotlight on him as a vocalist for the first time. On July 17, 2020, Eduardo releases his first single "La Cabra Jala Pal Monte". Its release came with an official video which was filmed in Buenos Aires and directed by Nicolás Sedano. "La Cabra Jala Pal Monte" was also the first release of his own label, La Casa del Sombrero. This song blends electronic sounds with a strong and fresh Latin percussion, creating a hip hop song mixed with his own avant-garde and risky style. In the lyrics, he presents himself as a singer and recounts the end of Visitor as the beginning of "Cabra".

His second single, "La Ventana", was released on September 9, 2020.

On March 2, 2021, he shared his third single, "Gris", through which CABRA gives an interesting twist to his musical concept, introducing us to a new side of introspective lyrics and sound within his repertoire. The music video was directed by the visual collaborator of Trending Tropics, Niko Sedano and César Berrios, who portray the attitude of CABRA towards the responsibilities and blame that fall on him.

On May 31, 2021, Cabra debuted with his first self-titled EP, which includes "La Cabra Jala Pal Monte", "La Ventana" and "Gris", and comes with three additional songs, "Lingote", "Un Belén" and "Quisiera Ser Un Meme". Eduardo collaborates with his daughter Azul in the song "Quisiera Ser Un Meme", which criticizes the need for artists to go viral, drifting away from the artistic purpose of communicating and making art.

As a musical producer In 2013, Eduardo began his career as an independent musical producer with the production of Cuban singer Diana Fuentes's debut album. Since then, Eduardo has worked with many established artists, as well as helped smaller artists obtain industry recognition through his work and musical productions. Trending Tropics, a project Eduardo worked on with his partner Vicente Garca in which they explored diverse sound textures and experimented with new materials, is proof of this, as he tells us in an exclusive interview for Rolling Stone Colombia.

He was given the opportunity to produce a song written by Sie7e and performed by Pedro Capó for a Pepsi commercial campaign in 2021. Gibson is another brand that has lately placed its trust in Eduardo. Additionally, has worked with Rita Indiana, Abel Pintos, Diana Fuentes, Vicente García, La Vida Boheme, Monsieur Periné, Chambao, Gustavo Cordera and Jorge Drexler, among many others.

Cabra is the producer with the most Latin Grammy nominations and awards, with a total of 45 nominations and 28 wins.

La Casa del Sombrero La Casa Del Sombrero is a boutique label based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It serves as a creative incubator for artists whose work is based on cultural truths in their self-expression. With Cabra as the driving force behind the venture, the label focuses entirely on the artist and their creative process, enriching the A&R experience. Artists that have worked with LCDS include Diana Fuentes, Sebastian Otero, and Eduardo Cabra himself for his solo debut.

On July 11, 2018, it was presented live during a rehearsal open to the public in La Respuesta (Santurce) as part of the preparations for his show at the SummerStage in NYC. The artistic concept of Trending Topics deals with the distorted relationship of human beings and the technology that surrounds them. Musicians who have already joined Eduardo and Vicente for Trending Tropics include Carlos Alomar (David Bowie's guitarist), Ziggy Marley, Pucho y Guille (members of Vetusta Morla), Ana Tijoux, Jorge Drexler, Li Saumet (Bomba Estéreo), iLe, Amayo (from Antibalas), Acentoh or Wiso G, among others.

Cabratón By the end of 2020, Eduardo created the virtual activity "Cabratón", whose main objective is to connect the producer with his followers and foster a space for creative interaction.

It functions by CABRA creating a new track live on his YouTube profile and then airing it through his SoundCloud profile. He invites people to download it and encourages them to add to the production through acapellas (voices), instruments or any type of session added to the track.

Participants have a deadline to submit their music. In the following days, CABRA makes a detailed review of the submitted materials, evaluating the combination of ideas, aesthetics and genres in order to select several singles and produce an EP.

Discography

With Calle 13 2005: Calle 13 2007: Residente o Visitante 2008: Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo 2010: Entren Los Que Quieran 2014: Multi Viral

Compositions

2006: «No hay igual» (by Nelly Furtado) 2007: «Beautiful Liar» (by Beyoncé y Shakira) 2010: «Gordita» (from the album Sale el sol by Shakira) 2013: «Todo Cae» (from the album Bailar en la Cueva by Jorge Drexler) 2019: «Mario Neta» (from the album Jueves by Cuarteto de Nos) 2021: «Somos» (single in collaboration with Guaynaa) 2021: «Tarantinero» (from the album 777: A Quemarropa by LosPetitFellas)

Productions 2013: Todo cae, Jorge Drexler 2015: Caja de Música, Monsieur Periné 2016: A la mar, Vicente García 2016: Tecnoanimal, Gustavo Cordera 2016: Nuevo Ciclo, Chambao 2016: Somos, Swing Original Monks 2017: Sofá, Silvina Moreno 2018: Encanto Tropical, Monsieur Periné 2018: Trending Tropics junto con Vicente García 2019: Candela, Vicente García 2019: Jueves, El Cuarteto de Nos 2019: Para Remendar el Cielo, Diana Fuentes Ft. Seu Jorge 2020: Mi Derriengue, Riccie Oriach 2020: 2030, LOUTA 2020: After School, Rita Indiana 2020: Mandinga Times, Rita Indiana 2020: Dulce y Salado, Pedro Capó Ft. Visitante 2021: Amor En Mi Vida, Abel Pintos 2021: Atravesao, Elsa y Elmar 2021: Fiesta en lo del Dr. Hermes, El Cuarteto de Nos 2021: El Arca de Mima, Mima

Casa del Sombrero

2014: Planeta Planetario, Diana Fuentes 2020: La Cabra Jala P'al Monte, CABRA 2020: Juyendo, Sebastián Otero 2020: La Ventana, CABRA 2020: Cabratón Vol.1 2021: Gris, CABRA 2021: CABRA (EP)

Filmography 2006 – My Block: Puerto Rico (documentary), as himself. 2009 – Mercedes Sosa, Cantora un viaje íntimo (documentary), as himself. 2009 – Calle 13: Sin Mapa (documentary), as himself.

Public appearances

2017 – Hablando La Música Se Entiende (TEDxBerkleeValencia). 2020 – A Conversation with... Eduardo Cabra (BIME PRO). 2020 – Un Shot con CABRA: La Muerte de Visitante (Corriente Perú). 2020 – Fábrica de hits en la nueva normalidad (Resonancia Colombia). 2021 – Ecosistemas Musicales del FUTURO (FUTURX Argentina). 2021 – Eduardo Cabra by Javier Andrade (Latin Alternative Music Conference). 2021 – Amazessions: CABRA (Amazon Music). 2021 – Final Panel: Jury Of Honor (Red Bull Battle US). 2021 – Person Of The Year: Rubén Blades (22nd Latin Grammy Awards Ceremony).

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Latin Grammy Awards

Album of the Year Best Pop Vocal Album

Billboard Latin Music Awards

Lo Nuestro Awards

Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica

Instituto Cubano de la Música

Ateneo Puertorriqueño

Premios El País - Babelia