| Yo! , tego calderon, don omar, los bandoleros | Yo!—Tego Calderón, Don Omar, the bandoleros' shadowed breed, |
| |
| Aunque digan que soy | Though they whisper that I am |
| Un bandolero donde voy | A bandolero wherever my footsteps bleed, |
| Le doy gracias a dios | I raise my thanks to heaven’s hush, |
| Por hoy estar donde estoy | For this day’s grace, for where I am, |
| Y voy a seguir con mi tumbao | And I shall walk on, pulse unrushed, |
| Y con mi ojos colorao | With embered eyes, my gaze a flame, |
| Con mis gatos activao | My panthers roused in midnight’s frame, |
| Ustedes to me lo han dao | All you have poured into my hands, |
| |
| Oye, a mi me importa poco lo que se diga del nigga | Listen—what care have I for tales they spin of the black man’s name? |
| William landron y yo somos socios de la avenida | William Landrón and I—bound by the avenue’s claim, |
| Soy bandolero como el mister politiquero | I am an outlaw, like the crowned lord of schemes, |
| Que se robo to el dinero y lo postularon de nuevo | Who filched the coffers bare, then wore the laurel anew, |
| (como si na) si fuera calde o don omar | (as if it were nothing) if Calderón or Don Omar bore that fame, |
| Nos daban conspiracion la llave bota | They’d cast us as conspirators, the key lost in the sewer’s blue, |
| Y yo no soy ejemplo mi respeto a tempo | Yet I am no paragon—my homage is to Tempo’s flame, |
| Su unico delito fue tener talento | His only sin: the gift of genius, rare and true. |
| Que tu quiere que yo escriba | What would you have me write— |
| Guasimilla, mentira | Guasimilla, a fable spun from spite— |
| De que el D. E. A me tiene en la mira | That the D.E.A. has drawn my soul into their sight? |
| Yo estoy claro claro | I see with clarity, the mind’s lamp bright, |
| Mis impuestos pagos | My debts are paid in silver light, |
| Critican si trabajo | They scorn if I labor through the night, |
| Critican si soy vago (que se va hacer) | They scorn if I am idle—so it goes— |
| Yo hago en primera | I strive for first, |
| Y me tratan de segunda | Yet they consign me to the second’s thirst, |
| Haci de na le encanta | And such is fate, it finds delight |
| Como el negro zumba (eso es verda) | In how the black man dances through the fight (and that is right), |
| Yo soy tu cuco | I am your bogeyman, |
| Tengo el trabuco | With blunderbuss in hand— |
| Conocido mundialmente como el maluco | Known on the world’s far rim as the wild, forbidden man. |
| |
| Aunque digan que soy | Though they whisper that I am |
| Un bandolero donde voy | A bandolero wherever my footsteps bleed, |
| Le doy gracias a dios | I raise my thanks to heaven’s hush, |
| Por hoy estar donde estoy | For this day’s grace, for where I am, |
| Y voy a seguir con mi tumbao | And I shall walk on, pulse unrushed, |
| Y con mi ojos colorao | With embered eyes, my gaze a flame, |
| Con mis gatos activao | My panthers roused in midnight’s frame, |
| Ustedes to me lo han dao | All you have poured into my hands, |
| |
| (mera)diablo que cherreo | (look) devilish the way the gossip flows, |
| Me cogi un caso y apuntaron el deo | They pressed a charge, all fingers aimed, |
| Ya no era el rey del perreo | No longer crowned as king of perreo’s throes, |
| Ahora era tecato y otro posible reo | Now a wretch, a castaway, a convict named, |
| Que me metieran preso dos dijeron mal lo veo | Two called for prison, I see their malice shows, |
| Yo no les creo a su sistema de reformacion ingrato | I trust not their reform, ungrateful and maimed, |
| A mi me arrestaron dos puercos por pasar el rato | Two pigs cuffed me for idle hours’ repose, |
| Y yo aqui pichando aguantando callando | Here I stand, pitching silence, bearing blame, |
| Si nadie es perfecto de que me estan juzgando | If no heart is flawless, why am I condemned? |
| Y hace con mi vida lo que cualquiera puede | And he does with my life what any soul intends, |
| Vivir como quiere, tener sus placeres | To live as one desires, to savor pleasure’s ends, |
| Mi gente yo noy distinto a ustedes | My people, I am no stranger— |
| Y hoy en dia soy cantante por que ustedes quieren | Today, I sing because you wish it so. |
| Me dieron las primeras planas | You put my face where headlines glow, |
| Cojen rapero con marihuana, pistola y cosa rara | They seize a rapper—weed, a gun, some alien woe, |
| Solo quedara en su mente clara | It lingers only in the mind’s clear snow, |
| Cuando crezcan donde yo creci se crien donde me criaba | When they grow where I grew, know the earth I know, |
| Diablo me duele tanta baba, duele tanta baba | Damn, the venom burns, it burns so slow, |
| El no juzgarme se les agradeze | To judge me not—I owe you that, |
| El beneficio de la duda cualquiera merece | The benefit of doubt is every wanderer’s hat, |
| |
| Tio, el no juzgarnos se les agradeze | Friend, to judge us not—we owe you that, |
| El beneficio de la duda cualquiera merece | The benefit of doubt is every wanderer’s hat, |
| |
| Aunque digan que soy | Though they whisper that I am |
| Un bandolero donde voy | A bandolero wherever my footsteps bleed, |
| Le doy gracias a dios | I raise my thanks to heaven’s hush, |
| Por hoy estar donde estoy | For this day’s grace, for where I am, |
| Y voy a seguir con mi tumbao | And I shall walk on, pulse unrushed, |
| Y con mi ojos colorao | With embered eyes, my gaze a flame, |
| Con mis gatos activao | My panthers roused in midnight’s frame, |
| Ustedes to me lo han dao | All you have poured into my hands, |
| |
| Oye, a la gente le encanta sacar pellejo (yo se) | Listen, people love to flay the skin (I know), |
| Unos por profesion, otros por bochincheros (exclusivo) | Some for bread, some for the thrill of rumor’s spin (exclusive), |
| Dale a la sin hueso socicharronero | Go on, wag the boneless tongue, you fryer of tales, |
| Haciendo dinero con el sufrimiento ajeno | Counting coins from another’s sorrowed wails, |
| Yo no soy un santo pero estoy en clave | I am no saint, but I read the ciphered scales, |
| Estoy pagando toas mis maldades | I pay for every shadow my misdeeds unveil, |
| Y estoy aqui tirando pa lante | And here I am, forging forward through the gale, |
| Como quiera que lo pongas hago menos mal que antes | However you cast it, I do less harm than in my former tale, |
| A ti lo que te jode es que te matastes tratastes | What galls you is you tried to die, |
| Te superatses pero te olvidastes (de que) | You outpaced yourself, but let the truth slip by (of what?), |
| De que el papa upa esta mirandonos de arriba | That Father up above keeps watchful eye, |
| El unico que juzga el niche que no discrimina | The only judge who sees the soul, who does not lie, |
| Y yo no he visto "al manini van dog"(yo no) | And I have not seen 'al manini van dog' (I have not), |
| Calle callejon el bandido calderon (si se | Alleys and lanes—Calderón, the bandit, walks awry (yes, you know), |
| El no juzgarnos se les agradeze | To judge us not—we owe you that, |
| El beneficio de la duda cualquiera merece | The benefit of doubt is every wanderer’s hat, |
| |
| Aunque digan que soy | Though they whisper that I am |
| Un bandolero donde voy | A bandolero wherever my footsteps bleed, |
| Le doy gracias a dios | I raise my thanks to heaven’s hush, |
| Por hoy estar donde estoy | For this day’s grace, for where I am, |
| Y voy a seguir con mi tumbao | And I shall walk on, pulse unrushed, |
| Y con mi ojos colorao | With embered eyes, my gaze a flame, |
| Con mis gatos activao | My panthers roused in midnight’s frame, |
| Ustedes to me lo han dao | All you have poured into my hands, |
| |
| Y aunque digan que soy | And though they whisper that I am |
| Un bandolero donde voy | A bandolero wherever my footsteps bleed, |
| Le doy gracias a dios | I raise my thanks to heaven’s hush, |
| Por hoy estar donde estoy | For this day’s grace, for where I am, |
| Y voy a seguir con mi tumbao | And I shall walk on, pulse unrushed, |
| Y con mi ojos colorao | With embered eyes, my gaze a flame, |
| Con mis gatos activao | My panthers roused in midnight’s frame, |
| Ustedes to me lo han dao | All you have poured into my hands, |
| |
| (echo, the lab, los bandoleros tego calderon diesel ponle pila a esto, | (Echo, the lab, Los Bandoleros—Tego Calderón, Diesel, feed fire to this, |
| Don omar y tego calderon haciendo historia en la musica, los bandoleros, echo!!) | Don Omar and Tego Calderón forging legend in music—Los Bandoleros, Echo!! |