Pérez and Cabra first met at the tender age of two, when the former's mother married the latter's father. The parents later divorced, yet the stepbrothers remained close over the following years. Their moniker, Calle 13 (meaning "13th Street" en inglés), along with their newly coined aliases, arose from their living situation: since Cabra visited his brother regularly at Pérez's residence (i.e., 13th Street), rather than vice versa, he was the "visitor," whereas Pérez was the "resident." The brothers were always artistic; Residente even went so far as to earn a master's degree in fine arts stateside, while Visitante had studied music formally since age six. They began recording music together in 2004, with the idea of hosting their work on a website, beginning with two demos (La Tripleta and La Aguacatona). Within a year's time, however, they began shopping for a record label to release their music commercially. White Lion was a logical choice, for it was the home of Tego Calderón, whom the two admired. Elias de León, the owner of White Lion, was forwarded the tape and realized immediately that there was something special about the music. He called Residente, who was working as an architectural draftsman at the time, and the two men met the following day.
White Lion signed Calle 13 soon afterward, and the label financed the duo's first video, for Se Vale To-To, which Residente shot and edited himself with the help of his cousin at the cost of $14,000. Furthermore, de León hooked Residente up with established reggaeton vocalist Julio Voltio, who was also signed to White Lion, and the two collaborated on the song Chulín Culín Chunlfy, which became a sizable hit. After generating some buzz on Puerto Rico radio with lead single Se Vale To-To, White Lion released Calle 13 in November 2005. The album opened well, at number six on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart; however, the sales were heavily Puerto Rican-based (the self-governing island is a U.S. commonwealth and therefore eligible for Soundscan computation) and subsequently languished until late summer 2006, when a second single, ¡Atrévete Te, Te!, began getting stateside airplay, beginning in Southern California. Another boost came when Nelly Furtado, concurrently riding high on the chart-topping success of Promiscuous Girl, invited Residente to collaborate with her on a new version of No Hay Igual that would be released to Latino markets as a single and video.
The buzz continued to build month by month, partly fueled by the September 2006 announcement that the duo had netted three Latin Grammy nominations for Best New Artist, Best Short-Form Video, and Best Urban Album -- all of which were later won. In addition, there was the announcement of three nominations for MTV Latin America Awards; the duo was invited to perform with Furtado on the awards show, too. In fact, the Furtado affiliation proved quite fortuitous, as MTV also invited Calle 13 to accompany the pop singer for the world premiere of the new MTV Tr3s channel targeting Latinos and acculturated Americans in the age 13-25 demographic. By this point, toward the end of 2006, the duo was the hottest new group in popular Latin music. Calle 13's year-old debut album had become a Top Ten success, as the pace of its sales grew week by week, and their videos were exceptionally popular Internet streams. All the while, Calle 13 continued to gain recognition in additional Latin markets such as Mexico and Spain.
Residente and Visitante released their second album, Residente o Visitante, in 2007. It garnered a good deal of attention upon its release, dethroning Jennifer Lopez from the number one spot on the Latin album chart. By this point, critics were well attuned to the group, and on another front, MTV Tr3s supported Calle 13 passionately, continuously airing the video for lead single Tango del Pecado, among other promotional spots. In effect, the release of Residente o Visitante became an event, one that was observed closely by many in the Latin music industry. Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo followed closely behind, arriving in October 2008 and expanding the group's stylistic cache with elements of candombe and banda. Their 2010 effort, Entren los Que Quieran, found them collaborating with the experimental metal group the Mars Volta on the album’s lead single, “Calma Pueblo." ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi