Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, known as Bad Bunny, has enjoyed universal fame with Spanish-speaking and non-Spanish-speaking audiences alike since his debut album X 100pre in 2018. While his previous works have celebrated his Puerto Rican heritage musically and lyrically, his new album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOTos, solely focuses on his identity. The album celebrates Latin culture while also addressing complex issues within Puerto Rico. He distinguishes himself as a generational Latino voice by appealing not only to Puerto Ricans but also to a broader Latin diaspora.
Every aspect of the album seems intentional. The front cover has two Monobloc chairs with banana trees in the background. The chairs remind many of family and home, matching the album’s nostalgic title, which translates to “I should have taken more photos.” The back cover has a dedication to Puerto Ricans residing on the island but also to the diaspora around the world: “Este proyecto es dedicado a todos los puertorriqueños y puertorriqueñas en el mundo entero (This project is dedicated to all the Puerto Ricans in the world).” There is also a sticker on the back that has the endangered sapo concho frog–a frog native to the island–with the words “Puerto Rico Seguimo Aqui (Puerto Rico We’re Still Here).”
Before the album’s release, these themes were brought up in Bad Bunny’s short film also called DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOTos. In the film, an older native resident of Puerto Rico and his friend, Concho, the frog, reminisce about the man’s life on the island. The video follows the man’s quick trip to a once neighborhood panadería (bakery) facing the reality of gentrification on the island. The café is reminiscent of stereotypical hip cafés in places like Los Angeles–serving $6 coffees and having vegan and whole wheat options for classic pastries. Just through the details of the food offered, Bad Bunny shows American gentrification and its threat to Puerto Rican tradition.
Bad Bunny also sends a subtle but impactful message about Latin culture through the man’s actual interaction with the woman working the register at the café. On the surface level, the worker is an American woman who cannot speak Spanish and struggles to understand the man when he asks for things common in Puerto Rico such as “queso de papa,” a Puerto Rican type of cheddar cheese. Beyond language issues, Bad Bunny includes smaller details about Latin culture that are not so obvious symptoms of gentrification. The American cashier’s demeanor is professional and typical of an overpriced café. She lacks the friendliness inherent in the people at the type of small neighborhood café portrayed in the film. Most places in the world have local restaurants where there are regulars who know each other, but there is a unique aspect of Latin America that corporate cafés in the U.S. lack–compassion. Bad Bunny portrays the loss of this culture in Puerto Rico through the disconnect between the cashier and the man. For example, the cashier shows no interest when the man mentions his friend who the pastry is for and refuses to give him an exception to the corporate cashless policy despite knowing the original owner. The interaction ends when a native Puerto Rican pays for the man and says, “seguimos aqui (we’re still here)” and comments about how expensive it has gotten. When the man gets back to his house in the film, he thinks about how loud Puerto Rican music would play on the streets and how he doesn’t hear such things anymore. He wishes he had taken more photos when he could, introducing the album’s overarching homage to Puerto Rico. These conversations are the types that Latino families would have in the instantly recognizable Monobloc chairs Bad Bunny portrays on the album’s cover.
The sound of DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS bridges generations of Latin music. The first song, “NUEVAYol,” which is a reference to how Puerto Rican New Yorkers pronounce New York, begins with a sample from the song “Un Verano en Nueva York” by Andy Montanez and El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, a salsa classic from 1975. Bad Bunny cleverly mixes it with house and dembow, a dance music originating from the Dominican Republic, to appeal to both older and younger generations at the same time. He melds styles throughout the album, such as with another notable song, “BAILE InolVIDABLE” (unforgettable dance), which is a salsa song about a former love that indirectly pays homage to the importance of dancing to Latin culture. While those tunes allude to older Puerto Rican musical styles, songs like “EoO” (the end of “perreo”) sample old-school reggaeton songs. Additionally, he includes the small detail of only collaborating with local artists, featuring students from Escuela Libre de Música (Los Sobrinos), RaiNao, Chuwi, Omar Courtz, Dei V and Los Pleneros de la Cresta. This aspect is another way Bad Bunny truly dedicates himself to his home, he treats this more like a work of art for Puerto Rico that embraces its many artists.
The most impactful song in my opinion is DTMF, which stands for “Debi Tirar Mas Fotos.” DTMF has a heavily nostalgic feel and can be interpreted in multiple ways. The lyrics themselves on a surface level allude to a specific person, “Debí tirar más fotos de cuando te tuve (I should have taken more photos when I had you).” However, paired with the song’s instrumentals and the rest of the lyrics, it conveys Latino nostalgia and anxiety of change, particularly through the line “Ey, ojalá que los mío' nunca se muden (I hope my people never move).” He also alludes to uniquely Caribbean cultural traditions, mentioning his grandfather playing dominoes or playing the güiro. While the song is obviously about Puerto Rico, it resonates with a worldwide community of Latinos.
The lyrics uniquely touch upon issues in Latin identity across multiple generations and nationalities. For example, a Puerto Rican facing the changes of gentrification can relate to the song, but at the same time, the daughter of Latino immigrants in the United States can hear the song and think of her family and culture. This brings up issues of the Latino diaspora, many of whom were completely uprooted from the very cultures Bad Bunny celebrates in the song. Some online have mourned the loss of their family history after moving to the States, wishing their grandparents had not left their home country. While Bad Bunny musically united many groups and generations of Latinos together through the different sounds of the album, DTMF’s message unites everyone with Latin roots together. As a second-generation American with grandparents from Cuba and Mexico, the song relates to the different generations of my family in multiple ways. My father, born to Cuban immigrants in Miami, and my mother, born to Mexican immigrants in Texas, can hear the song and think of their upbringings in Latin communities within the U.S. However, my grandmother, who never returned home to Cuba before her passing would have a different view of the song entirely. While alluding to Puerto Rico, the lyrics “I should have taken more photos when I had you” or “I hope my people never move,” heartbreakingly apply to those Latinos who did have to move. Though Miami ended up having a large Cuban community, she was never able to have such memories with what ended up being her family in her true home. Then, there are younger generations like myself who would not be considered Latina in Latin America. Many people my age online have mourned the loss of language, something I have struggled with, while also fondly remembering Latin aspects of their childhood and trying to reconnect with their heritage through things like cooking or improving their Spanish.
While I do not know if Bad Bunny had the intention of creating a song that somehow brings up different memories for every Latino yet also gives them a sense of common identity, the song will always evoke people’s memories of Latin America embedded in their hearts for years.
DTMF’s interpretation can be applied to many different Latin situations, but the album ultimately takes a political stance for Puerto Rico. In “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” he writes about American colonialism, both through the acquisition of native land and soft imperialism through cultural practices. He says, “Quieren quitarme el río y también la playa/ Quieren el barrio mío y que abuelita se vaya (They want to take away the river and also the beach/ They want my neighborhood and for grandma to leave).” In the global context of the Puerto Rican struggle as a territory of the U.S., Bad Bunny is adding his piece to the complex debate. Though the song “TURiSTA” is about a former love who only saw Bad Bunny’s good sides like a tourist sees the good parts of a place they visit, the concept of a tourist ignoring the problems of their destination fits into the conversation about gentrification in Puerto Rico.
The last aspect of the album that distinguishes Bad Bunny as a uniquely Latino artist is the way he has promoted the album, most notably through his upcoming residency in El Coliseo in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Contrary to industry standards, Bad Bunny is staying in San Juan and making sure his fans and people can see him perform. Even on Ticketmaster, which at this point has a notorious ticket-buying process for fans, Bad Bunny included a small quiz about the album to make sure true fans could purchase the tickets.
DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOTos came out at a crucial time for Latin identities. Bad Bunny had previously denounced Donald Trump, especially after a comedian at his Madison Square Garden rally called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” in October. However, releasing such an album weeks before Trump’s inauguration and containing themes of native’s discontent at America’s management of the territory is political and sends a message of Puerto Rican strength. He celebrates Puerto Rico like he has in previous albums, but also sends a message that Puerto Rico is there to stay. Bad Bunny appeals to Puerto Ricans and other Latinos facing anxieties under the administration but does so in a strong triumphant, and empowering way rather than creating a sob story. He celebrates his culture with typical Bad Bunny lyrics, those with hints of his ego and sex appeal as an ultra-famous musician, but also shows a more serious and loving side throughout the album. Ultimately, even if not intentional, DTMF reached Latinos around the world, reminding multiple generations of their roots and making them proud to be Latino.
Carolina Permuy is a senior in the SFS studying Culture and Politics. Bad Bunny and Elliott Smith have been next to each other in her Spotify Wrapped for three years in a row.