How Residente Spends His Sundays

NEW YORK — In 2018, Residente, the Puerto Rican rapper, writer and producer, won the Grammy for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album. The recording took him two years to complete, as he visited 11 countries, including Ghana and China, to research and play the music of his diverse heritage.

For Residente’s next album, to be released this fall, he collaborated with scientists. This summer, fans got a taste of it with the release of the single “Bellacoso, a medley of hip-hop and Caribbean beats featuring Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny.

Residente, 41, took some time away from New York this summer to help lead the protests in Puerto Rico, which called for the governor to resign (he did). He lives in Chelsea with his girlfriend, Kasia Marciniak, 21, who is studying English literature at the New School.

KISS My alarm goes off sometime between 11 and noon, but I’m usually out of bed closer to noon. I go to bed at 5 a.m., but I don’t really sleep. I toss and turn thinking about my work. Kasia is still sleeping. The first thing I do is give her a kiss.

CHELSEA MORNING I don’t drink coffee and start off my day with a big glass of room temperature water instead. I used to cook, but life and work have gotten so crazy that I recently hired a chef. Her name is Chelsea, and she cooks super-healthy food the way I like to eat. She spoils me with a big breakfast on Sundays. It could be a spicy tofu scramble with avocado toast or poached eggs with cauliflower hash browns. No matter what I’m eating, I always have a green juice and a bowl of berries.

FAMILY AFFAIR I call my label manager at Sony Latin, my career manager, publicist and my brother, Gabriel, who is my creative director. We discuss my upcoming appearances, concert schedule and soon-to-be released songs. In between calls, I look at and reply to the WhatsApp chat with my entire family including my mom, five sisters and three other brothers. I’m the only one who doesn’t live in Puerto Rico. We’re all very connected.

BEER RUN Even though I’m into healthy eating, I can’t live without beer. Drinking it helps me concentrate on my music. I walk to Carmine Street Beers downtown and pick up Tripel Karmeliet, my favorite kind. It’s from Belgium, and it’s strong but easy to digest.

I’M IN THE ZONE Both Kasia and I spend the afternoon writing. She loves to write short stories and movie scripts as a hobby and is super-talented. I work on my songs. I settle on the couch with a bottle of beer, put on sound-canceling headphones and get in a zone. It’s hard for me to focus, but once I get into it, I am unaware of anything else around me. I can sit for hours and write. This is when my best work happens. It was during one of these afternoons when I wrote “Bellacoso.”

STRONGER I go to Equinox in the late afternoon and either work out on my own or with a trainer. If I’m by myself, I run fast on the treadmill for 20 minutes and do weights. With my trainer, I do a mix of heavy and light weights. Since I’ve just worked out, I stay in the healthy zone by eating a big salad or something else light.

IT’S ELECTRIC The studio I love to record my songs at is called Electric Lady. It’s in the West Village, and I walk there. In fact, I walk almost everywhere — it’s a good way to get in extra steps. Depending on where I am in my album, I might be recording words or musical instruments. I’m usually there around three hours.

CEREAL REMIX By the time I’m back, it’s around 11. Given the hour, I don’t want a heavy meal, but I am hungry. There’s no Chelsea around at this time, so I have a bowl of cereal with almond milk. It’s either Cheerios or Raisin Bran.

THE CARD CHEAT Kasia and I are both into the card game Uno and get really competitive with each other. We keep track of how many games each of us has won. Right now, she has won 249, and I have won 220. It’s incredibly relaxing and a good stress relief for both us. We don’t argue about anything in our relationship, but when it comes to Uno, that changes. I’m convinced she is cheating, and she tells me that I’m the cheater.

SLEEP-DEPRIVED We end the day with TV in bed and snack on salted peanuts. I was really into “Game of Thrones” but haven’t really found a show since that I love. But I did start watching “The Sopranos” since I’ve never seen it, and I’m liking it so far. Sometime between 3 and 5, I lie down, but like I said, I don’t really get a lot of sleep. Kasia, she’s out like a light.

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