Bad Bunny's Puerto Rican Homecoming

"In 2016, a sinuous remix of a track called "Diles" began pulsing its way through streaming services and night clubs. It featured a handful of Puerto Rican performers, but the main one was an emerging hitmaker with a silly name and a serious voice: Bad Bunny. His real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio; his stage name, as fans later learned, was inspired by a childhood photograph that captured him, scowling, in a rabbit costume."

"And his voice was doleful and elegant: he sang (and sometimes rapped) with a plainsong solemnity, even when the rhythms and the lyrics suggested mischief, as they often did. Diles means "tell them," and in this case Bad Bunny was urging a woman to tell her friends precisely how well he had treated her. "Dice que le gusta hacerlo con mis temas de trap," he sang: "She says she likes to do it to my trap tracks.""

Bad Bunny rose from Puerto Rican Latin-trap scenes with a distinctive doleful, elegant voice and playful, sexual lyrical swagger. His 2016 remix "Diles" propelled him into prominence. Over six solo albums he transitioned from Latin trap breakout to a singular, stylish, unpredictable global star without direct precursors. Un Verano sin Ti became the most-streamed album in Spotify history. His music combines solemn vocal delivery with mischievous rhythms and local Puerto Rican authenticity, enabling vast international popularity while retaining a distinctly local feel. His cultural significance reshaped Spanish-language pop and defined early 2020s musical sounds.

Read at The New Yorker