Bad Bunny dominated Spotify's streaming charts in 2020, 2021, and 2022, but was overtaken by Taylor Swift in 2023 and 2024. However, with the release of his new album DeBi TiRAR Mas FoTos (I Should Have Taken More Pictures), it is highly likely that he will reclaim the top spot in 2025. What is even more impressive is that he achieved this level of success among worldwide audiences while singing in Spanish.
The album DeBi TiRAR Mas FoTos focuses on pressing social issues, particularly the influx of wealthy investors looking to avoid paying taxes to his native Puerto Rico, the gentrification of local communities, and the eventual emigration of Puerto Ricans. Bad Bunny has long addressed these topics in his music (see my previous blog), critiquing gentrification and the forced emigration of the island's population. This time, however, he dedicates an album to exploring these problems in greater depth. The tracks highlight not only gentrification, but also the corruption and failure of basic public services, particularly electricity, as key factors driving emigration.
Accompanying the album is a short film with English subtitles, where an elderly man reflects on his life with a friend - who happens to be the island's native toad species, the sapo concho - while navigating the forces of gentrification. The film emotionally depicts how the neighbourhood is changing, with the arrival of a hostile American family in one of the houses. At the local bakery, the old man struggles to order a sandwich, as the business is now run by foreign owners catering to the "new" residents. Here, he is offered a cheeseless quesito, a traditional Puerto Rican cheese pastry. The conversation between the old man and the toad centres on whether it is possible to have a cheese pastry without cheese, serving as a metaphor for the idea of a Puerto Rico without Puerto Ricans. They conclude that if the island’s local population is no longer present, the pastry—like the island itself—might need a new name.
One of the album’s standout tracks, Lo QUE LE PASO A HAWAii (What Happened to Hawaii), encapsulates the central message by using the Hawaiian Islands as a warning about the dangers of gentrification. The lyrics convey the painful consequences of losing one's home and culture:
“They want to take my river and my beach too,
They want my neighbourhood and grandma to leave…
No one here wanted to leave, and those who left dream of returning,
If one day it's my turn, it’s gonna hurt so much…
They want my neighbourhood and your kids to leave,
No, don’t let go of the flag nor forget the lelolai,
‘Cause I don’t want them to do to you what happened to Hawaii…”
Scholars suggest that the staging of emotive events, such as concerts, can amplify political messaging. Bad Bunny is fully aware of this. To further amplify the themes of resistance and community in his new album, Bad Bunny has announced a concert residency in Puerto Rico, which sold out almost immediately. The residency, titled No me quiero ir de aqui (I Don’t Want to Leave), reinforces the artist’s message of standing firm against the forces that threaten to displace local communities.
The idea of using music as a political tool is not new. Music can be an effective tool to promote conflict, peace or, in the case of Bad Bunny, resistance. However, this is an artist with a global reach. Lo QUE LE PASO A HAWAii has already become an anthem for activists in the Canary Islands, and the song’s message is heard loud and clear by Spanish and non-Spanish speakers alike. By the end of 2025, that and other songs in the album are likely to resonate in communities with similar struggles elsewhere in the world.
