Concert Review: iLe Makes Beautiful Music Out of Anger
At the Appel Room, as iLe sang from her albums, Ilevitable and Almadura, I noted that before most her songs she talked about their inspiration and each was rooted in anger. If you have heard iLe’s music then you know that anger is the last thing you feel or even hear when you listen to it. Her songs are stunning and a powerful representation and modernization of Puerto Rico’s music history, yet, in being that, it taps into a founded rage at being apart of a community so powerful in what it has given the world but so disrespected in what it has received back.
iLe – Tu Rumba (Official Video)
iLe’s show is a strange concoction of wonder, dance, beauty, love, sadness, anger, and history. Yet, in a way, that is what it means to be a human being and a Boricua. She is 100% owning her resilience and, in turn, her resistance to a world that will diminish and even threaten to disappear her because she is a woman, Puerto Rican, and incredibly bold and strong with her intelligent statements. She does not hide her mind and her soul, which is why her voice is so rich in texture and tone. Every song she sang came from her heart with a purpose: to cleanse her darker feelings so as to enlighten her listener’s thoughts. POWERFUL!
iLe – Triángulo (Official Video)
Wearing an orange dress, she was LITERALLY colorful on stage. She has fantastic personalty that she fuses into how she sings songs. Her voice is inherently distinguishable, but how she caresses her notes with feelings and thoughtfulness makes is discoverable. There is never a song of hers that does not feel refreshened live. Such a gift made her show as vivacious as it was silencing. You didn’t know if you wanted to bust a move to won her Bomba inspired songs, which one couple did a full-on salsa routine, or just sit down and absorb words and melodies that came over you like the caves and waterfalls of El Yunque. Her ability to make her concert a fun, dance show and a surprising think-tank made her one to see. For More Information On iLe Click Here.
