"Querido FBI" ( en, "Dear FBI") is a song from Puerto Rican

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

group Calle 13. The song was recorded in September, 2005 and released through the Internet about 30 hours after the death of Puerto Rican Revolutionary leader

Filiberto Ojeda Ríos Filiberto Ojeda Ríos (April 26, 1933 September 23, 2005) was a Puerto Rican independence activist and militant who cofounded the Boricua Popular Army, also known as ''Los Macheteros,'' and its predecessor, the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación ...

in what appeared to be a botched raid at his house.

Background, recording and release

While Calle 13 was in the middle of the recording of their first album, Filiberto, who was the leader of the Puerto Rican Revolutionary group known as

Los Macheteros The ''Ejército Popular Boricua'' ("Boricua Popular/People's Army"), also known as ''Los Macheteros'' ("The Machete Wielders"), is a clandestine militant and insurgent organization based in Puerto Rico, with cells in the states and other natio ...

was killed during a raid at his house led by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

, on September 23, 2005. Ojeda Ríos was deemed a fugitive by the FBI (he had been hiding at various places in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

over a period that lasted exactly 15 years) for refusing to submit himself to justice on charges issued ''in absentia'' after a

bank robbery Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank- ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

for which he was labeled as a conspirator. The raid's timing (which coincided with the anniversary of the

Grito de Lares ''El Grito de Lares'' (''The Cry of Lares''), also referred to as the Lares uprising, the Lares revolt, the Lares rebellion, or the Lares revolution, was the first major revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico. The revolt was planned by Ra ...

, the most successful event ever related with the

Puerto Rican independence Throughout the history of Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans, its inhabitants have initiated several movements to obtain independence for the island, first from the Spanish Empire from 1493 to 1898 and since then from the United States. A spectrum of p ...

movement), led a considerable amount of the Puerto Rican populace to speculate that the event had the dual purpose of killing Ojeda and giving the pro-independence movement in Puerto Rico an exemplary punishment. Angered by the FBI's action, Residente (singer of Calle 13) wrote a song about what happened and asked his record label, White Lion, to allow them to release the single about thirty hours after Ojeda's killing, to the public via the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

through

viral marketing Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way tha ...

through

Indymedia The Independent Media Center, better known as Indymedia, is an open publishing network of activist journalist collectives that report on political and social issues. Following beginnings during the 1999 Carnival Against Capital and 1999 Seatt ...

Puerto Rico, an alternative news website. The song was co-produced by local DJ Danny Fornaris.

Musical structure

The song opens with an attention call addressed to people of all social backgrounds in Puerto Rico. Residente then describes his considerable anger against what had happened to Ojeda, and how that represents a humiliation to Puerto Ricans (''"(A) nuestra bandera la han llena'o de mea'o"'', meaning "Our flag has been pissed upon") It also shows the political concerns of Calle 13, as evidenced by their allusions to

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, the U.S. government's involvement in the

Ponce massacre The Ponce massacre was an event that took place on Palm Sunday, March 21, 1937, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, when a peaceful civilian march turned into a police shooting in which 19 civilians and two policemen were killed, and more than 200 civilians ...

. The song suggests putting an end to U.S. military and federal-police intervention in Puerto Rico by involving the entire

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

of Puerto Rico, but particularly public housing dwellers, those residing in ''"caseríos"'' who normally battle each other on urban skirmishes related with crime, but who also happen to have federal law enforcement officials as a common enemy. The duo was criticized by some who believed the lyrics promoted violence against U.S. authorities (such as "''hoy me disfrazo de machetero / y esta noche voy a ahorcar a diez marineros''" ("''Today I'll dress up as a machetero / and tonight I'll hang ten sailors''") Also, "Y por eso protesto (...) Y hasta por un septiembre 11." (And therefore I protest (....) and even for a September 11." Calle 13 stated that the song was not meant to be taken literally and merely symbolized his frustration with Ojeda's killing. The lyrics also include the phrase ''"Sin

cojones The Spanish language employs a wide range of swear words that vary between Spanish speaking nations and in regions and subcultures of each nation. Idiomatic expressions, particularly profanity, are not always directly translatable into other ...

la radio y las ventas, White Lion me dio pasaporte para tirar este corte"'' ("Bollocks about radio and album sales, White Lion gave me a passport ermissionto throw ublishthis cut"), evidencing Residente's wish to have the song distributed for free with permission from the label.

Music video

Eventually, a video clip for the song surfaced, which combines images from Ojeda himself, his burial, scenes from historical footage from the 1954 armed attack to the United States House of Representatives by Puerto Rican nationalists, and images of everyday Puerto Ricans holding protest signs. Spanish-Puerto Rican thrash metal band " Juerguistas y Borrachos" also issued a remix of the song, adding

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s to it. Both media items were also released to the public through viral marketing.

Impact

Public controversy about the song's lyrics ensured immediate attention from mainstream media in Puerto Rico and gave the band instant rise to local fame. The song, according to critics, "redefined what a reggaeton vocalist's relationship to Puerto Rico should be."Frances Negrón-Muntaner and Raquel Z. Rivera, "Reggaeton Nation" (17 December 2007) Up to that moment, most local reggaetón artists had opted not to address political subjects in their songs. In comparison, "Querido FBI" became the subject of debate at a forum hosted at

University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

soon after its release, and had its lyrics posted in local newspapers such as '' Primera Hora'' and ''

Claridad ''Claridad'' ("Clarity") is a Spanish-language weekly newspaper based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was founded in June 1959. The paper served as the official publication of the Puerto Rican independence movement and later the Puerto Rican Socia ...

''. Although the song mentions the prospect of revenge for Ojeda's death, the duo asserts that the song was not intended to endorse violence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Querido Fbi 2005 songs Spanish-language songs Calle 13 (band) songs Songs based on real people Federal Bureau of Investigation controversies

Background, recording and release

Musical structure

Music video

Impact

See also

References