The Grammy-winning, French-Chilean rapper, Ana Tijoux, is preparing to release her new full-length album. The first preview of Antifa Dance came in March with the politically-charged dembow single under the same name. 

“Facing authoritarianism, unrelenting hatred for the other, we return again to art. Art that is charged with music and color, art that responds in dance, an organized movement of beautiful rebellion. It is our proud belief that from pain, the purest act of love and resistance is born,” she said in a press release.  

Her newest single, “Pa Qué,” which was released on July 17, she teamed up with Puerto Rican rapper PJ Sin Suela to create another revolutionary anthem of joyful rebellion. 

She told the music portal ChileFunk, “‘Pa Qué’ is a reminder to all of us who are still attentive, inside and out, to those above us who are at home but not asleep, and to those below us who continue to weave the nets, holding on with open hearts.”

The song title references the famous meme “si ya saben cómo me pongo, pa qué me invitan?” and she uses the phrase to speak up audaciously. 

The music video for “Pa Qué” features images of police officers blinding peaceful protesters with their guns and arresting Indiegenous street vendors. As the cumbia beat intensifies, the scene turns into a massive merengue party against government abuse. 

“In my country, they take you to jail if you jump a turnstile, in my country they take you if you ask for bread from the banquet, in my country they call you crazy if you go out and protest, in my country they shoot your eyes out for marching. And they buzz you hot, like fireworks,” belts Tijoux.

She also wanted to laugh at the failures of former Chilean Health Minister Jaime Mañalich, criticize President Sebastion Piñera’s handling of the pandemic, and explain why people have taken to the streets in social outbursts. 

“Did you know that the crown can be a good person?

Minister, forgive me for saying so, but it makes me uncomfortable.

Of all the planet we are the best health system?”

With two explosive singles out already, it’s clear that Tijoux’s album Antifa Dance will be provocative and possibly spur more of the revolutionary spirit.