For Puerto Rico's Villano Antillano, femininity is a shield — and a superpower

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/13/ [login to see] /villano-antillano-la-sustancia-x-interview
Villano Antillano opens her debut LP, La Sustancia X, by casting a spell. "Prende las velas, repite el mantra," she sings — "Light the candles, repeat the mantra."

But this isn't the start of a soft, tranquil meditation. It's the beginning of a party fueled by sex, drugs, love and swagger. Instantly, the 27-year-old Puerto Rican artist — also known as Villana — launches into one of her deepest powers: her exquisite wordplay, which warps English and Spanish in distinctly Caribbean ways. She's confident and venomous, claiming her place in the music industry while also making it clear she's out of your league. "I'm not an artist," she brags toward the end of the first track. "I'm a movement."

Across La Sustancia X's 11 songs Antillano raps over trap, reggaeton, rock and dance beats, seamlessly incorporating a swath of genres into an aural playground that shows off her range while maintaining a cohesive vision: pleasure, perreo and booming percussion. On the album cover, outfitted in neon green and black, she stares unflinchingly forward as one hand clasps over a closed fist. The imagery draws a resemblance to Shego from the animated Disney Channel series Kim Possible; the kind of femme fatale, cool girl villain of the story you can't help but root for.