Why Bad Bunny?
America is the cultural mixing pot of the world. With cultures from countries ranging from China to Mexico, it is no surprise that music in America is just as diverse as its people. Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican and Spanish speaking rapper has soared to popularity and has claimed his spot as one of the most talented and known artists in the country. He has taken global ideals and assets and incorporated them into his music and style. His popularity is due to his ability to change an already popular genre, rap/hip hop, and combine that with traditional Latin American music (salsa, merengue, etc.), and combine both of these with pop music.
Americans love hip hop. In recent years, hip hop has developed a distinct sound and flow to it. This can be seen in artists like Meek Mill or NBA Young Boy. English speaking men, with a trap beat, keyboards, and bass dominate the rap game. However, Bad Bunny does not follow this trend. He gives a new take on rap/hip hop. Kenneth Partridge of Billboard writes, “Bad Bunny explains the roots of his unique sound go back to his parents and the influences of his home country of Puerto Rico. He picked up salsa and merengue from his dad and pop ballads from his mom”. He keeps the flow and style of rapping used by American rappers, but incorporates salsa and romantic Latin music accompanied with Spanish lyrics. A prime example of this is with the song “La Dificil” by Bad Bunny. The song has a bouncing chorus and instrumentally is a “Latin trap beat”, with Latin American musical influences combined with traditional American rap instruments. Americans are always looking for something new, and Bad Bunny delivers. He takes an already beloved genre and music, and makes it more fun and upbeat. Listeners want to get up and dance, even though they do not know what he is saying. His music has a “tropical” or foreign feel to it, and he reaches viewers through his uniqueness and the sound of his music.
Bad Bunny has been heavily influenced by reggaeton, which is a style of rap that was developed in Puerto Rico in the 1990’s and became very popular in New York City. Bad Bunny took influence from Daddy Yankee, who himself is a global celebrity and musician. Jasmine Garsd of npr writes, “Bad Bunny says he would lock himself in his bedroom and listen to Island rappers Daddy Yankee, Tego Calderon and the godfather of Puerto Rican hip-hop, Vico C”. These artists contributed heavily to his musical development and style. At first listen, the audience is taken back by this fun, new, foreign sound. He has been able to take reggaeton and mix that with pop, and with other Latin American genres, which has allowed for his songs to blow up and soar. Reggaeton was already quite popular around the world, but failed to gather a lot of the English speaking audience members in America. Granted, there is a language barrier, but it does not matter. For those who do not speak Spanish, is it not what he is rapping about, but more how he is rapping and the approach he takes to it. His ability to use a common and loved genre, rap/hip hop and reggaeton, and put his own twist on it has caused Americans to flock towards his music. He has created a hybrid of rap, reggaeton, pop, and traditional Latin American music, taking the best and most interesting qualities from each genre. It was a three step process; first he used Latin American genres in his music, then incorporated reggaeton, and then combined these with traditional American pop and rap/hip hop.
Bad Bunny burst onto the pop scene with a breakout feature. Specifically, he collaborated with Cardi B and J Balvin (another Latin American artist from Colombia) in the song “I Like It”. This song blew up and can be heard in commercials, by companies like Corona and across social media platforms. It spent time as number 1 on Billboard and was streamed millions of times. It encompasses Bad Bunny’s style of rapping, Spanish lyrics with a Latin American beat and backing track. Cardi B collaborated with Bad Bunny and created this Latin themed song because of Latin American themed music’s rising popularity. This was seen in the previous year with “Despacito’’ by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, featuring Justin Bieber. It was the song of the summer, much like “I Like It”, and since then Latin American themed songs or songs that take musical influences from Spanish speaking nations has been a normality. Cardi B followed this trend with “I Like It”. This new and upbeat song Bad Bunny was involved in featured a superstar, Cardi B, and it caused millions of people to blast this anthem. Bad Bunny was chosen as a featuring artist because of his rising popularity (he was “up next”) and his authentic and extreme talent. Gary Suarez of Vice writes (from an article in 2018), “‘I Like It’ is a tremendous track for Bad Bunny. It’s the highest he’s ever gotten up the Hot 100 to date by a wide margin, with Becky G’s “Mayores’’ a distant second with its №74 peak late last year”. The song being bi-lingual and featuring an English chorus allows an American audience to latch and gain interest in the song. However, Bad Bunny himself did not have to break his style and rap in English like many other Spanish speaking artists have had to do in the past, and as a result he was able to reach stardom being a solely Spanish speaking artist. The English aspects of the song work as a bridge between Americans and spanish Rap artists like Bad Bunny. As a result of this song’s success, music lovers were intrigued with one of the featured artists, Bad Bunny. He blew up and became a superstar himself. Soon after, he was working with and performing alongside other artists like Drake and Jennifer Lopez. “I Like It” allowed American audiences to find an artist who instead of releasing one amazing Latin American inspired song, consistently releases pop songs with the same inspiration. For example, Bad Bunny performed in the 2020 Super Bowl with Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. This is as big as it gets. For someone who is from Puerto Rico, where football is not played, to performing at the most watched televised event in America is an outstanding accomplishment and milestone. Some might say that he was only a featured act and not a headliner, but still, being a 25 year old man performing to all of America, one’s success cannot be denied. Although he might be held back slightly because of his large English speaking audience and his predominantly Spanish songs, he is still rising in popularity. After the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny was certified even more as a top rapper and top pop star. He gained the attention of a superstar, like Cardi B, because she knew he was extremely talented and would be well received by audiences. Bad Bunny’s use of star power gave him a platform to express and showcase his talents and appearance to the entire world. He does not need to speak English to be popular, and that is the point and part of what makes his music so awesome and interesting.
Bad Bunny is at the top of the league when it comes to popular music in America. He has become a world renowned pop star and has helped popularize a wave of Spanish rap in America across all audiences. He worked with rap, reggaeton, and traditional Latin American music. Whether he utilized these skills willingly or if was an accidental approach, it worked and has worked for artists before him (like Shakira, Daddy Yankee, and Marc Anthony). He has paved the way for future generations and artists. Will artists from other cultures and nations besides those from Latin America become popular in America, or will Bad Bunny and other Spanish speaking artists be the only to gather a following?
Work Cited
Garsd, Jasmine. “How Bad Bunny Skipped Categories And Skyrocketed To Fame” npr 3, Jan. 2019,
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/03/681982377/how-bad-bunny-skipped-categories-and-skyrocketed-to-fame. Accessed 26 Sep. 2020
Partridge, Kenneth. “Bad Bunny: How a Latin Trap Artist Is Changing the World of Pop” Billboard, https://www.billboard.com/articles/partner/8480619/bad-bunny-how-a-latin-trap-artist-is-changing-the-world-of-pop. Accessed 26 Sep. 2020
Suarez, Gary. “Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and the Perils of Latin Novelty”, Vice, 27 Apr. 2018,
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pax5w8/cardi-b-bad-bunny-j-balvin-i-like-it-essay-cultura. Accessed 26 Sep. 2020
