Ivy Queen brings reggaeton to NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series

Just days after accepting her Icon Award at the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Ivy Queen performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series as part of the third “El Tiny” takeover featuring “artists from all corners of Latinidad.”

The Puerto Rican superstar, known as “La Caballota” and “La Reina del Reggaeton,” acknowledged that she felt happy and nervous “doing something out of my comfort zone.”

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But, as she noted, she’s faced challenges all her life.

“I’ve been told ‘no’ a thousand times,” she said.

She continued to follow her heart because, “Yo sabía que a mi no había que darmela porque yo la tenía.” (“I knew that it didn’t have to be given to me because I had it.”)

“Nobody was going to take that talent away from me,” she said.

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Ivy Queen performed a 25-minute set alongside her band, which was made up of strings and piano. Her set featured “Reza por Mi,” “La Vida Es Así,” “Menor Que Yo,” “En Que Fallamos” and “Quiero Bailar.”

“Guys, this is for the girls,” she said before performing “Quiero Bailar,” a feminist track about asserting independence and body autonomy in the club.

Early in her set, she lighted a candle that had an image of Bad Bunny on it. “La gente tiene la patita del conejo, y yo tengo a Benito completo,” she quipped. (“People have the rabbit’s foot. I have all of Benito.”)

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Ivy Queen offered life lessons in between songs. She spoke about how music influences “every sense of the word” and the importance of empowering women and taking care of youth. “Empowerment without action is not empowerment,” she said.

“I’m 51. Embrace your age,” she said. “Cuando tu te cuidas y te amas, se siente, se ve y floreces.” (“When you take care of and love yourself, you feel it, you see it and you bloom.”)

“Tenemos derecho a ser feliz, tenemos derecho a cambiar, a cuidarnos, a protegernos,” she said. (“We have the right to be happy, we have the right to change, to take care of ourselves, to protect ourselves.”)