Como rapera, Villano Antillano está armada con un flujo feroz cargado de juegos de palabras descarados y bromas ingeniosas, todo lo cual la ayuda a desmantelar el discurso de odio para impulsar a la comunidad LGBTQ+. Por teléfono, la autoconciencia y la perspectiva de Villana Santiago Pacheco también son vigorizantes, brindando una perspectiva crítica que explica en parte por qué es tan buena rapeando.
Billboard Español habló con el primer Artista latino en ascenso de 2023 el lunes (23 de enero). Acababa de recibir su primera nominación para la categoría femenina de artistas nuevos de todos los géneros de Premio Lo Nuestro, una hazaña bien ganada después de años de mostrar su destreza lírica. Es reconocida junto a advenedizos luminares como Bad Gyal, Tokischa y Young Miko.
Villana’s nod follows her banner 2022: her first Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. chart entries, viral releases, a widely viewed performance alongside Bad Bunny, and an unflinching debut album, La Sustancia X. This year, the Puerto Rican star is poised to perform at global festivals Lollapalooza Argentina and Chile, Colombia’s Estéreo Picnic and Bombastic in Spain.
“What makes you an outstanding rapper is not about how many words you know, or whether you can rap in an academic way — it’s about how you use the language,” she explains. “It can be the language of everyday life. I use a lot of words that maybe aren’t popular like in the rest of the world, but it’s how I speak Spanish, and how it’s spoken in the Caribbean. That’s what really makes a rapper.”
She is also arguably the biggest Latin female trans artist today. Yet navigating her artistic persona while medically transitioning hasn’t been a walk in the park. “I carry it in my mind knowing that I am so much more than that label,” she says, while making mention of Latin America’s deep-rooted history with homophobia, machismo and misogyny. “I get a bit detached [from discrimination], but I don’t let it get to me … I’m a public figure, and on top of that, I’m a trans woman, and it’s inescapable that that responsibility is there. So let’s educate.”
