thread of bad bunny

been processing the debut bad bunny LP. at first i was mostly unimpressed, but a good few tracks and the overall aesthetic have really started seeping in. dynamic star of latin trap, or overhyped atlanta diluter?

i adore him tbh. i like his voice & he seems sort of weird.. ❤️ the album is the best thing i've heard in a long time.

also his fashion sense is super fun

yes i love his nails

i've listened to the album once and enjoyed it! my thoughts will hopefully solidify into something more concrete than 'oooh ~beat switches~' over time

the album is the best thing i've heard in a long time.

― ¯\_(🏈 )_/¯ (daria-g), Thursday, December 27, 2018 11:52 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Pretty much sums up my skepticism ... unless I’m missing it lyrically (totally fair critique) I don’t get what makes this any better/worse than gunna, lil baby, Travis Scott album cuts, latter period future — all of which is “good” but hardly exciting

Except that it’s in Spanish and the descendants of “rap is just about hoes and bling” love anything that’s like rap but slightly different

If you’re not Spanish-fluent and you love this and hate post malone idgi

i could not get into this at all. that said he's hot and looks good in expensive streetwear so i get it

This might be the best trap-album I've heard since Culture. Yeah, it's a lot like Travis Scott, but more rhythmically varied. The way the drums are mixed in a track like 200MPH is almost psychedelic. Love it!

If Post Malone has the same thing, I should listen to more Post Malone :) I do kinda like his singles, but they're not as good as this.

he's hot and looks good in expensive streetwear

v true!

d-40, confused - was your skepticism summed up by a woman saying she liked a record?

If you’re not Spanish-fluent and you love this and hate post malone idgi

i don't really try to listen to post malone, not my cup of tea. i love future in general (except juice wlrd album - no) but.. he sounds so unhappy all the time. totally different feeling.

do speak a little spanish, understand better than i speak. actively working on it - but to understand song lyrics I def have to look up translations, which helps fill in what i didn't catch. but translations of lyrics are awful, they're just plugged in from google translate. flat and far less creative and funny than the original, so i compare back and forth. suppose i can learn to swear fluently while i'm at it.

I can help you translate a couple of his songs if you want me to

d-40, confused - was your skepticism summed up by a woman saying she liked a record?

Yes, the only possible objection I could have to “best thing I heard in a long time” is that you’re a woman, exactly

So what I’m hearing is a bunch of people who don’t listen to current rap and don’t know what post malone sounds like have decided this is great. Got it

This might be the best trap-album I've heard since Culture.

I’m not the world’s biggest Travis Scott fan but this is not better than his album. Lol

it seemed weird to me to have said little more than i like this album & someone drops in pointing at me like this is exactly why i'm skeptical. por que?

I can help you translate a couple of his songs if you want me to

heh. nah i'm good. not everything translates. spanish would be my third language & ime even if i didn't have to look up some words, it isn't the same as being a native speaker of a language & really getting cultural references - to puerto rico in particular, to musical genres that were popular at a specific time and place.

only like 5 ppl have posted in this thread so far, all of whom seem to be familiar-to-fanatical re: current rap music and are well aware of what post malone sounds like? where is the overwhelming and undeserved enthusiasm for this record that you're referring to coming from?

I also prefer it to Damn ¯\_('^')_/¯ 

I just really like the drums, maaaaan

This argument would be both tedious and predictable even if the Travis Scott album were somehow critically underappreciated which it clearly is not.

Critically underappreciated has nothing to do with it in responding to the claim this is somehow the best trap album since “culture”.

But for that matter What makes this better than Lil baby’s “harder than ever”? Gunna’s “drip season 3”? can someone even evaluate if they are vaguely making out lyrical content in a genre built around elaborate lyrical interplay that’s intertextual & working between local & broader cultural lingo?

Multiple ppl on this thread said they haven’t even heard post malone (somehow) that doesn’t sound very familiar w rap music

I’m not even opposed to the idea that this album is as good as everyone is saying (though compostionally this feels several steps down from the Travis Scott at least) based on some especially great writing that’s going over my head as an English speaker but I’m not going to listen to ppl who aren’t appreciating it on that level either tell me this is the best trap album in two years .. how could you even know?

I'm Danish. All the rap I hear is in a second language (except Malk de Koijn. Sigh...) And honestly, I don't give a fuck if you listen to me or not, I'm just writing my opinions on a message board. Who cares what you think?

xpost re: post malone, i've heard him, but i don't listen to him. why not try listening to more than anglophone artists

album still 🔥🔥🔥

caro
la romera
estamos bien

better than damn would certainly be pushing it for me... to say the least, lol. about on the level of a lil baby full-length seems about right. which is good imo!

Multiple ppl on this thread said they haven’t even heard post malone (somehow)

i reread the thread to see if perhaps i had misread but nope, this is not actually what was said at all lol, and am finding it hard to believe that this is what you actually believe was meant by those users who mentioned him.

going back to your initial posts, since that's where post malone first came up here...

Except that it’s in Spanish and the descendants of “rap is just about hoes and bling” love anything that’s like rap but slightly different

is this what's really going on here? i won't be obtuse enough to deny the latter part of this sentence refers to a v real phenomenon but you really think being in spanish helps to gain acceptance among those types? latin trap is generally pretty inseparable from a pretty narrow brand of machismo and the types you are referring to are not exactly known for their affinity for hypermasculine music/images from members of racialized groups.

so if this phenom is actually in play, what's helping assuage the typical hesitation? is it his shorts? the nails? his clumsy but '''endearing''' gesturing toward a contemporary feminist cause? i have trouble believing it's the language/barrier, as most rap-anxious whites do not even listen to the lyrics of english-language rap music before deciding it's offputting. (it could even be the drake collab, or perhaps even a feature of the music not related to image-production.)

like, idk. afaict most of the ppl who are enthusiastically discussing this album (not here, b/c little discussion of the album itself is going on) are already pretty familiar with latin trap and spanish-language music more broadly and still consider it to be a noteworthy release. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i don't really try to listen to post malone

If Post Malone has the same thing, I should listen to more Post Malone :)

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I’m not saying it’s not noteworthy even I’m just questioning absurd hyperbole like “best trap album since culture” (culture isn’t even the best trap album since culture)

fuck deej you like Travis Scott now? thought i was still safe hating/mostly ignoring him

ILX's bad boy upset by the use of casual hyperbole to describe an encounter with music on I Love Music.

Snark aside, what is the best trap album since Culture?

xp

woahwoah we calling TS albums “compositionally good” now??

Article in the wake of the killing of openly gay trapero Kevin Fret in Puerto Rico last week:

https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/ev3yjm/kevin-frets-death-highlights-latin-traps-homophobia-problem

Posting it here because Bad Bunny is mentioned in the article (Anuel AA plays a part in this story too).

this video is quite old news now but i still like it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg64AFnRnkc

huh i didnt know thats what he looked like

nobody:#BadBunny: pic.twitter.com/TSeWhqsvwV

— chaaa 🍒 (@charis_edian) March 8, 2019

There’s also a video w/ a little kid as Bad Bunny

Don’t tell me he makes out with him at the end as well.

la cancion is a really excellent song, my god

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsGnCt-gT44

https://jezebel.com/bad-bunny-used-his-fallon-performance-to-spotlight-the-1841974571

Really enjoying his new album as well.

is he still bad and overhyped by those who only like(d) his music for being hip rap music in spanish?

please let’s not invite ilx’s bad bunny back to this thread

Damn sorry for asking for ppl to not uncritically moon over stuff itt

new album is pretty solid, very consistent for 20 songs. so far, it doesn't have the highs of x100, and it probably suffers from lack of callaita, and tainy, in . kinda funny, i listened to the album in full without looking at the credits, and three of the four tracks that immediately stood out to me were tainy productions.

*tainy, in general

generally agree with that take. I think even the tracks that come off as filler right now will grow on me as Vete and Ignorantes did. standouts so far: La Dificil, Solia, A Tu Merced, Safaera, 25/8

yeah, safaera is a highlight for me too. the 'la romana' of the new one, though it doesn't reach those heights.

Yes, good but uneven and not quite the heights of last one , sounds right.

Forgot BB had own thread & commented on Rolling reggaeton and more one

Rolling Afro-Latin Music 2020: Reggaeton, Salsa, Bomba, Latin Jazz, Bachata, Merengue, Urbano and more Latinx

no mention yet of the arguably already-iconic "yo perreo sola" video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtSRKwDCaZM

Not super into the new album. Too many guitars, not enough straight-ahead bangers (although obviously that's the point).

i've found i enjoy it if i ignore everything before "dákiti". not sure what the last track is doing there but i like it too

this thread completely died after early enthusiasts on here were informed that maybe-kinda-liking his first album wasn't as woke as they perhaps thought :( lol

oh well at least he's still putting out good music and might be better-known now than ever

Indeed. He was the #1 most streamed artist on Spotify this year.

La difícil was my top played track on spotify for this year

new album out this weekend, the latest single is pretty cool imo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVgd4gvY0hU

I like that too. I enjoy when he’s vocalizing over a mix of acoustic instrumentation and programmed beats like here

I also get a kick out of Bad Bunny with the holiday blues phrasing over a woman who left him

Translation excerpt :

Not a single call, not even a text
The brothers are giving me a hard time, they say I'm on a trip
It's 12:04, and I'm already wasted
Crying and drinking coconut pitorro
Grandpa brought it so I could have fun
Not to cry over some girl at 12 o'clock

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/05/arts/music/bad-bunny-album-debi-tirar-mas-fotos.html?unlocked_article_code=1.m04.9mOr.iZ9QHh2es2DQ&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Bad Bunny talking about young Puerto Rican salsa musicians on his new album, his recent years in Los Angeles & Ny & paparazzi & then going back to Puerto Rico,

Puerto Ricans online are loving new album lyrics

Some songs like "Cafe Ron Ron" try so hard to incorporate traditional beats and rhythms that they seem disjointed and forced (on my first and second listens)

https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-bad-bunnys-new-self-directed-short-film-debi-tirar-mas-fotos/

New album is growing on me

Most ilxors seem more interested in 2024 ballot stuff involving other genres, or just other genres stuff. Unless something on this album crosses over somehow, it appears it will get ignored ( or maybe some have listened and decided it’s not for them).?

I like it and know the lyrics and as ever is long. I appreciate how at this time last year Kali Uchis dropped her best album and it was in Spanish.

I'm more interested in reading interviews with Bad Bunny than listening to his music. He's a smart guy and an excellent advocate for Puerto Rico, but I hate the sound of his voice and have no interest in modern pop. And don't tell me about how exciting it is that he's blending traditional sounds with new ones - I have Tego Calderón and Calle 13 albums from 15-20 years ago that do that.

Bad Bunny doesn't sound much like Cale 13, and at any rate "I don't like is voice" is a more reasonable argument than "X did it 20 years ago." The MJ Lenderman thread was good at pointing out how (a) playing Spot the Influence is a cul-de-sac (b) a secondhand sound can still offer pleasure.

*Calle 13

DtMF has been getting repeated plays in my house.

Cafe con Ron is also great.

yes those are two major highlights for me too

weltita is another stunner

An exhilarating track (and cool video) ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVgd4gvY0hU

I've been a big fan of his since the beginning but this is the first album where I've read along with the English translations, before I've just been responding to his melodies, his voice (which I personally love) and the interesting places he tends to go with his music when he steps outside the pro forma trap stuff (which itself is fine, in doses). So glad I made the effort to understand the words here, lots of powerful stuff, particularly Turista, DTMF, La Mudanza, and definitely definiely Lo Que Le Paso a Hawaii, which is just so powerful.

coming around to the idea that this is his best album

In addition to co-hosting with Jimmy Fallon, for his January 13 appearance, Bad Bunny will perform a song from his new album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos

That's On NBC tv tonight

https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/bad-bunny-subway-concert-nyc-jimmy-fallon-video

subway commuters were treated to a surprise Bad Bunny concert on the platform. Ahead of co-hosting The Tonight Show — and performing a song from his new album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS — the singer and rapper sang a Backstreet Boys classic before delivering a low-fi version of his "NUEVAYol" album opener.

You'll have to wait until The Tonight Show unveils the full video tonight at 11:35/10:35 central to see his performance, but you can see exclusive photos of the stunt — which finds Bad Bunny whipping off a wig and fake beard to reveal himself — over at Billboard now.

The artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio had fans screaming, crying, shouting lyrics, and chanting "otra, otra!" to beg for more as he sang and rapped with Jimmy Fallon backing him on tambourine.

Bad Bunny's connection to The Tonight Show dates back to September 2018, when he made his very first U.S. late-night appearance on the talk show as a Musical Guest. As of January 13 he's returned six times since then, and joined Jimmy Fallon, Questlove, and Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter for a colorful dance through the streets of Old San Juan to sing "Mia" in January 2019.

Jimmy Fallon is annoying but that was kind of fun

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/15/g-s1-42654/bad-bunny-debi-tirar-mas-fotos-review?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZe8BUMMi2-KNnTDu_Gv9mwgY1cGWUEEAR1XBItvikffvzo9a4tvHp5xIY_aem_AGP6GvRAq2GqtZvLu7LA5w

Nuyorican writer and poet Carina Del Valle Schorske who recently wrote a great article about Eddie Palmieri for the New Yorker weighs in here on Bad Bunny’s latest album and Puerto Rican politics and culture

X-post - Bad Bunny performed a song, did the subway segment, and cohosted the Fallon show

i'm not sure this one's better than un verano sin ti but it's pretty good and definitely better than the last one

Correct.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyqEtb5HE50

Impressive, he blends these genres like a true chameleon, there's a whole world here. I'm surprised I can appreciate him on such comparatively softer styles (Lo que le paso a Hawai, Café con ron, Baile inolvidable, La Mudanza), it's refreshing and works way beyond homage. In the end it's where I expected him to hit hardest that he fails to reach the immediacy or highlights of Un Verano, maybe he's missing his rough edges, or the production is too polished. Two exceptions being Dtmf and Kloufrens. Album is actually bottom heavy.

The album may not have a career-defining hit but I feel it's possibly his strongest yet. The songs that incorporate traditional Puerto Rican genres do not sound forced at all to me - I find the integration pretty seamless. Baile Inolvidable is amazing. Perfumito Nuevo is not quite Ojitos Lindos but it hits hard nevertheless, Weltita right after is a breeze. There are a few tracks in the middle where he's in automatic mode, but from Kloufrens and Café con Ron it's again super exciting. Go Benito.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouuPSxE1hK4

Bad Bunny on NPR Tiny Desk

Bad Bunny just announced a tour with 30 shows in Puerto Rico (a US territory), and gigs around the world, but none in the 50 US states. Seeing discussion elsewhere whether this was an intentional political choice

probably a security thing

Maybe

30 days of Puerto Rican shows start today. First 9 shows are just for local Puerto Rican residents

https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/bad-bunny-residency-coliseo-puerto-rico-review-1236019929/?link_source=ta_bluesky_link&taid=68728391d7809c00015b9200&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky

Lots of songs, a tribute to music legends, and uh 2 old NBA stars ---

Midway through the performance, he paused to deliver a shoutout to the P.R. trailblazers who shaped reggaetón and Latin music: Tego Calderón, Daddy Yankee, Ivy Queen, Don Omar, Wisin y Yandel, Ñengo Flow and many others. “This is all for you. For us,” he said, pulling the crowd even closer to his vision.

And the surprises didn’t stop there. Basketball legends LeBron James and Draymond Green joined Benito on stage, lounging with him in a tiny recreation of a Puerto Rican casita — one of the standout set pieces of the night — that highlighted the island’s charm and the sense of “home” that resonated throughout the performance.

https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/bad-bunny-puerto-rico-residency-experience-recap-1236024901/

Someone else on the residency shows

A friend saw one of the shows down there a few days ago, he said it ruled.

Bad Bunny's 30-concert residency in Puerto Rico this summer has become an immense source of local pride unlike any cultural event in the island's modern history.

Great story: https://www.npr.org/2025/08/14/nx-s1-5479212/bad-bunny-comes-home

That is nice re the Bad Bunny residency (although hearing of how hard it is to live there, lack of jobs, rent price issues, time it has taken to repair buildings after hurricane is sad)

Deep Dive: Listening to Bad Bunny w/ scholar Jorell Meléndez-Badillo and musician Miguel Zenón in Conversation, free via zoom and in person on December 10

https://www.gc.cuny.edu/events/deep-dive-listening-bad-bunny-jorell-melendez-badillo-and-miguel-zenon-conversation

https://i-d.co/article/bad-bunny-puerto-rico-residency-issue-375-cover/

Bad Bunny interview where he talks about salsa, Adam Sandler , comedic relatives, Puerto Rican residency and more

Bad Bunny is doing the halftime show at the Super Bowl in 2026

History of right wing hate for Latin musicians as relates to Super Bowl and other events

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/bad-bunny-super-bowl-controversy-maga-history-1235449974/?fbclid=PAZnRzaANjTlxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABp5zli5Jvl3ykIOwZ4jLbAUEivQ43I7Jnoe2UGRvYonmA3a5mBww9fVJt9FHC_aem_a-KXCCqDYlK6P3wofYYXKw

Earlier this fall, Rivera-Rideau criticized the Latin Grammys for excluding Bad Bunny’s longtime producers, Tainy and MAG, who did not receive a nomination for producer of the year, despite the Puerto Rican star having the most Latin Grammy nominations this Latin Grammy season for his critically-acclaimed album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.”

https://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2025-11-04/latin-grammy-voting-members-join-recording-academy

https://www.gc.cuny.edu/events/deep-dive-listening-bad-bunny-jorell-melendez-badillo-and-miguel-zenon-conversation

The CUNY Graduate center will be posting that zoom deep dive with Dr Melendez-Badillo and musician Miguel Zenon re Bad Bunny's latest album on its Youtube page

My students adore this guy. I like the album with the chairs.

Saw him live last night. One of the most fun concerts I’ve ever been to. Amazing fanbase as well, everyone around me was dancing but also very chill and respectful. I can’t remember the last concert I attended were I needed to back off because people kept pushing forward. Hell, you even had space to do salsa moves comfortably.

Also I have to say I was surprised of what a fucking pro he is. The production (particularly the camera crew) musicians and himself are next level in their coordination.

When I saw him in a big stadium it was a great production and a fun concert