Spotlight On: iLe

ABOUT THIS WEEK’S SHERO IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

This week’s guest has been a professional musician for half of her life. Before the Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, composer and activist Ileana Cabra forged her own path and became a GRAMMY-winning solo artist under the name iLe, for a decade she was known as PG-13, a singer and rapper and sole female member of the superstar alternative hip hop group Calle 13 with her older brothers, which she joined at 16. She could have chosen to ride the fame and success of Calle 13, who, with 21 Latin GRAMMYs, holds the record, but instead, Ileana reinvented herself as iLe, following her passion for more traditional Latin sounds, embodying and celebrating feminine power, and her own voice. Her solo debut iLevitable arrived in 2016 and the response was immediate. iLe was awarded a Latin GRAMMY as Best New Artist that year, and the album won a GRAMMY Award in 2017. Her follow-up, Almadura, came in 2019 and was also GRAMMY-nominated, and now iLe has returned with her most directly feminist, politically outspoken, and sonically adventurous album yet, Nacarile.

Our playlist includes new music from Samara Joy and Lana Del Rey, plus the track “8 Days of Hannukah” from Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings to celebrate the first night of Hannukah on 12/18!

SHERO BIRTHDAYS: We celebrate the birthdays of both SHEROES Nubya Garcia and Billie Eilish on 12/18.

This week’s Radio SHERO: Michelle Bacon from 90.9 The Bridge in Kansas City, Missouri, joins us this week, sharing one called “Let Me Be Great” from Sampa The Great featuring Angelique Kidjo.