Ile: From Salty Hip Hop to Smooth Classics

Ileana Cabra Joglar performs these days as Ile. But for the better part of a decade, she was known as PG-13 -- the sweet complement to her salty brothers in the Puerto Rican hip-hop group Calle 13. Having started her career in her mid-teens and worked with some of the rowdiest (and most successful) beat- and trouble-makers in the island's vibrant scene, the sound of Ile's first solo record can only be called a "departure," in the very best sense: the product of maturation, curiosity, and talent. The album, Ilevitable, mines the wealth of multiple Latin American musical traditions, and delivers both cool and passionate renderings of ballads, boleros, and classic midcentury sounds. Ile made her first solo U.S. appearance in the Soundcheck studio. Click the player above to hear her live, or watch the performances below.