Yele debuts «A donde iré» with the crib Victoria never used
The song is part of «Plenitud», a seven-track EP released under La Base De Fe, Wisin's Christian label.
Yele, Wisin's daughter, released the video for «A donde iré» on Friday, October 16. She sings the song with her dad. The video features the crib the family bought for Victoria, her sister, who died in 2016, according to Primera Hora.
A crib bought for a baby girl who never left the hospital
Victoria died in 2016, just weeks after she was born. She lived 30 days, all of them in an incubator inside the hospital, and she never got to wear the clothes or little shoes or play with the toys that were waiting for her at home. She was diagnosed with Trisomy 13. Yele was 9 years old when the news hit her.
Before her mom's pregnancy, Yele had been asking for a sister; at home it was just her and Dylan. The little girl she waited for so eagerly stayed in her heart with the same love, and her memory comes back to the family all the time. She describes her as someone incredibly special.
«Thirty days of life are no small thing before God.»
In the video, filmed in a church in Santurce, the crib appears with Victoria's things inside it. That scene was the hardest for her: she broke down, she said, and her mom Yomaira stayed with her until they finished it.
Thirty days of life are no small thing before God. «Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them» (Psalm 139:16, ESV).
A duet that wasn't in the plan
Yele didn't know her dad was going to sing on the song. The original plan involved another artist, and it fell through. It was Yomaira who suggested Wisin as a collaborator. He wrote his part and recorded it, and Yele heard it the same day as the video shoot.
The lyrics ask where to go when sadness and anxiety close in. For her, there is only one answer: the Lord. The family went through their own storm in 2016, and by her account, God held them up and brought them closer together in the middle of it.
Scripture doesn't hide the tears: «Jesus wept» (John 11:35, ESV). Grief isn't resolved with pretty phrases. You cry, and you cry with others.
The gifts she received and where she uses them
No one at home knew she could sing. She started at 16 in her church's worship team. Before that she had thought about production, engineering or dance; never a stage. Her dad heard her, talked with her and believed in what he heard. The songs she has already released came out of that first camp.
Today she is in her second year of Art and Entertainment Business at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, with a specialization in music production. She has three nominations at the Puerto Rico Worship Awards: Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Collaboration of the Year for «Voy con Jesús» with Alex Zurdo, and Pop/Contemporary Song for «28/7» with Marcos Yaroide.
She is also nominated for the HEAT Awards as Music Promise and in Best Religious Song. She says that being nominated is already a win, because it means the music is reaching the people who need it.
«Plenitud» has seven tracks, including «Bueno», «Tu gracia», «28/7» and «Tu amor». The plan is three EPs of seven songs each, because of the weight the Bible gives that number. About her gifts, she is clear: the Lord gave them to her, and she will use them to glorify him.
For anyone who misses someone today
If you've lost someone, you don't have to have your grief figured out this week. Say that person's name out loud, tell someone you trust how your day is going, and look for a church where you can cry with others beside you. The memory of those who are gone is also honored in community.
Ten years later, Yele still talks about Victoria without lowering her voice: «We live with the hope that we're going to see her again... That is our goal, to go to Heaven and be with her».
