Villano Antillano’s Biggest Move Yet

I t’s late August, and Puerto Rican rapper Villano Antillano is relaxed in a spaghetti strap tank, makeup-less and wearing a delicate gold necklace that says “Villana,” her real name. This is who she is at heart: a laidback, private, homebody. And these days, home is on an entirely new continent.

Antillano is now living in Madrid. While she has a close group of friends in Spain, she admits the move has been tough. “I am the only one from my immediate family who has left Puerto Rico ,” she says. She goes back often, but she’s honest about the issues she faced back on the island, where Puerto Rico’s water drought and blackouts make constant headlines. “Imagine after an eight- or 10-hour flight and getting home to find no electricity or running water,” Antillano says. “In a quiet moment, you sit and think: ‘Damn, why do I have to live like this? For real.’”

That question is central to Antillano’s new LP, Ante el Umbral del Peligro No Siento Temor . ( “At the Threshold of Danger, I Feel No Fear .”) She embraces the pain and chaos of change as she blends trap, reggaeton, and experimental EDM. “What really inspired the album was not the act of leaving, but the woman I saw myself becoming through the process of migration,” she explains.

Produced by Spain’s Groove 2070, the album is a sonic leap for Antillano, who released her debut La Sustancia X in 2022. “I think that’s something my other albums didn’t have: that fusion of universes between two people coming from completely different places. Before we created our first track, we didn’t know each other. We had never shared a studio. I showed up and, in five hours, we started and finished it.” While the album is mostly in Spanish, she switches easily to English throughout the album for rhymes or vibes. “It’s just a natural way of speaking for me,” she says. “ I’m very aware that I’m always operating on two channels at once.”

One standout track is “entre2AGUAS” (between two waters), a hard-hitting, futuristic reggaeton- meets-EDM song. The song’s title references her migration from Puerto Rico to Spain, but Antillano says the lyrics also deal directly with a breakup — “specifically, the only long-term relationship I’ve ever had,” she says. “But throughout the relationship I realized I’m the type of person who can’t let go of a goal until I feel I’ve given it everything, absolutely everything.” Whether she’s talking about her homeland or her ex, her anguish, tenderness, and relentless spirit comes through. Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century

Songs like “CRACK” confront violence against women and look at the experiences of trans women. “CRACK” specifically references men who claim they are “first-timers” with trans women. “They act like you’re the first, like they’ve never been attracted to a woman like you, but you have something they couldn’t ignore. But that’s a lie,” Antillano said, explaining the song.