thread of bad bunny

americans whose familiarity w/ pop music extends solely to what has been ratified by (anglo) hits radio + similar center-of-mainstream avenues of exposure are likely still relatively unaware of bad bunny, or may know who he is + vaguely recall that he was on cardi's "i like it" but otherwise not rly know his other music. his amazing success is a reflection of the feverish level of consumption of his music among, generally, younger listeners (especially but far from exclusively latino). his songs that have been riding high in the top 10 of the singles chart have essentially zero anglo airplay aside from a smattering of weekend mixshow spins

it is bizarre to me that these mainstream outlets still basically ignore him as much as possible. the situation is different when you go to some of the cities that j0rdan mentioned, but not by a whole lot

it was funny to me when i saw some article about pop radio ppl deciding what to do about the encanto song "we don't talk about bruno" being a streaming smash. someone was quoted as saying, "these are drake-level streaming numbers, we have to pay attention." it was like, um, you mean, the artist whose material you routinely ignore and whose streaming numbers you generally dismiss as being irrelevant to your target audience? in the end they didn't acknowledge "bruno" much, and "running up that hill" is really the only out-of-nowhere streaming-first phenom they've bothered with in recent memory

got around to this and it's pretty good but absolutely way too long! enjoyed it more than his previous albums which i never really managed to vibe with

haha good, now we need to hear how YOU would shorten it

there aren't any obvious dud tracks so idk that i'd necessarily cut anything, just split it into two for convenience

it almost gets away with the length, there's enough ideas to go around, but it's just too much at once as is

yeah, that was kind of my answer except for the 5 tracks i would cut obv lol

did we ever find a satisfactory reason as to why he, two albums and three years later, added "caillaíta" to the end of this album? great song, regardless

The song was released through Rimas Entertainment on May 31, 2019 as the first single from Bunny's fourth studio album, Un Verano Sin Ti (2022), appearing as the last song from the album acting as a bonus track.

Fun show seeing Bad Bunny at Nationals Park stadium in Washington DC. A big production with an island beach with palm trees, a portion of which elevated above the crowd with Bad Bunny on it. Lots of backing visuals, fireworks, a team of dancers and for encore some horn players. He had a beach chair he sat in at times . They were giving out light up wristbands before the show to members of the crowd too. A little over 2 hours

Emphasis was on new album songs but he dug back too

Bad Bunny is scheduled to do 2 shows this weekend at Yankee Stadium. Old-school salsa fans love that a 70s salsa multi-act bill filled Yankee Stadium one night. This is topping that.

Bad Bunny brought on a number of special guests at Yankee Stadium— Romeo Santos, ArcAngel, Jowell & Randy and more. Plus per Rolling Stone even folks who didn’t splurge for tickets , enjoyed the show:

Elated cheers filled the stadium, but the people inside weren’t the only ones listening: Massive crowds flooded the surrounding area, with fans dancing and celebrating outside the security gates, overjoyed that the music was loud and clear enough to travel across multiple city blocks. Entire families and throngs of children packed the nearby Macombs Dam Park to the brim, picnics and Puerto Rican flags in tow. It wasn’t just an event for people who got a ticket; it was one for all of the Bronx. His links there are deep: Bad Bunny famously drove through the borough during his memorable pandemic concert atop a moving van in 2020, and recorded part of his video for “Tití Me Preguntó” there.

One song from Yankee Stadium Sunday gig was live on MTV Awards .

A friend who had seen him on earlier tours liked the DC stadium show also. A pretty quick rise to mega- stardom -- saw some tweets from folks who had seen him in clubs not that many years ago

I can't express how huge Bad Bunny is in South Florida across every young demographic.

he's absolutely the biggest pop star that i can remember, maybe in my lifetime. like i think he's on mj levels at this point.

He has already done way more live performances than MJ iirc

His concerts this year have sold out in minutes and people buying from scalpers at ridiculous prices.

I saw people buying tickets to see him in Monterrey for prices above $900

Real prices were around $150/$200

What no mention of his WWE antics itt? They should set up a match between him and (also surprisingly good) Logan Paul.

also no mention of his role in the brad pitt vehicle bullet train lol

And his upcoming leading role in a DC film.

He also played a character in Netflix’s Narcos Mexico

He has already done way more live performances than MJ iirc

His concerts this year have sold out in minutes and people buying from scalpers at ridiculous prices.

I saw people buying tickets to see him in Monterrey for prices above $900

Moka meant Montell Jordan

Eheh that said as a solo artist, MJ has played around 270 gigs in 3 tours (roughly 1year+ each): Bad, Dangerous and History. So at this point BB has already toured longer than MJ !

I thought we were all talking about Montell Jordan.

Hahaha Well, I was googling Michael Jackson and it gave me his solo shows. I was impressed that he didn’t seem to tour so much but didn’t consider Jackson 5 weren’t inside those stats.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/bad-bunny-releases-documentary-for-el-apagon-1234594915/

Bad Bunny Puerto Rican activist

Most streamed artists on Global Spotify in 2022 #SpotifyWrapped:

#1. Bad Bunny
#2. Taylor Swift
#3. The Weeknd
#4. Drake
#5. Ed Sheeran pic.twitter.com/PJPhbwlVWB

— Pop Base (@PopBase) November 30, 2022

he deserves it!

I love this album. It feels good to catch the slang and his sudden use of English words.

Don't just run up to take a picture:

Adivina... fuaaaap pic.twitter.com/T96HighoxQ

— Felix Victorino (@donfelixSPM) January 2, 2023

His non-apology after the fact:

La persona que se acerque a mi a saludarme, a decirme algo, o solo conocerme, siempre recibirá mi atención y respeto. Los que vengan a ponerme un cabrón teléfono en la cara lo consideraré como lo que es, una falta de respeto y así mismo lo trataré yo. #SINCOJONESMETIENE

— ☀️🌊❤️ (@sanbenito) January 2, 2023

tbrr, that seems fair

Un Verano Sin Celular

Seeing Some funny tweets about this’d phone grabbing now

Nice opening performance on the Grammys

Also just this

https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/opportunities/thinking-with-bad-bunny-cultural-politics-and-the-future-of-puerto-rico/

To examine the significance of the Bad Bunny phenomenon and its impact, CENTRO is hosting a Thinking with Bad Bunny symposium on May 11-13, 2023 at Hunter College in New York City. The event will bring together scholars and music industry leaders to discuss the role of reggaetón and trap as genres in Puerto Rican culture and society, the politics of race, gender, and Latinidad, the social context of Bad Bunny’s music, including the impact of gentrification and displacement on Puerto Rican culture, and the role of celebrity in political activism (and vice versa

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/newsletter/2023-04-06/latinx-files-bad-bunny-colorism-tego-calderon-racism-time-interview-latinx-files

La Times piece re Bad Bunny Time magazine story:

In the lengthy cover story, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio was asked questions on fame, politics and his desire to be “the biggest star in the world.” Among them, he was asked what role colorism and race play in the reggaeton industry.

“Because I haven’t seen it or lived it, I can’t say,” he said. “It’d be irresponsible of me to say yes.”

He then offered the success of Tego Calderón as an example of someone who he considers to be “the biggest singer in the industry,” as possible evidence that the industry is a meritocracy and that anti-Black racism doesn’t limit the possibilities of Black artists.

Unsurprisingly, his comments set some parts of the internet aflame

…. This isn’t the first time that Bad Bunny has fallen short in people’s eyes when it came to the subject of anti-Black racism. He was accused of being silent in the wake of the George Floyd protests and at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. It was a surprise to many, considering the Black foundations of the music that made him famous.

I feel like people are disingenuous and refuse to consider the position of the musician as an individual, setting weird expectations that the current superstar has a passionate inspirational tirade ready. The music press echoing with exaggerated collective expressions like "setting the internet aflame", or using ambiguity like "accused of being silent", and trying to hint at a narrative hours after interviewing. Really ? When humbly acknowledging the limits of your position and offering a rather strong positive message that anti-Black racism is real but isn't enough stop the development of Black artists is really no bad response at all if you leave it at that. At least, that's certainly one thing that helps slowly shift the lines of discrimination. Any positive example to be found in a complex social reality should not be opposed to the (generally shared) view that racism is setting back society.

It also doesn’t make much sense if you’re coming from a latin american background. not sure if Puerto Ricans see themselves as involved in US politics as in Latin American ones, but Bad Bunny has made it clear he identifies as latino.

Why are they expecting latin americans to chip in on US centric problems and get enraged if they don’t give a response.

I'm pretty sure these issues are also relevant in puerto rico

it's not a great response although its being perceived as disappointing might say something about how much expectations for pop stars have changed in recent years

have you guys seen the j balvin documentary that's on amazon? the whole thing is essentially (if accidentally) about a colombian teen being killed by cops during protests there and how all of colombia expects j balvin to say something about it, but he has no desire or ability to say anything meaningful, and so ppl start to turn on him, and he further collapses under the pressure of having to write, like, 4 sentences on instagram supporting this kid. (scooter braun eventually flies in and convinces him that he needs to say something.) there was also the whole tokischa video thing which inflamed colorism debates, and he handled that really poorly.

anyway, bad bunny isn't j balvin. but i do wonder if bad bunny is bearing the weight of past sins by other light skinned latin stars who have generally handled this debate poorly. i'd throw rosalia in there too even tho she overlaps w/ him as opposed to preceding him

That L.A. Times piece doesn't seem to accurately capture the quote in the Time profile (to the point of being nonsensical – BB wasn't asked "what role colorism and race play in the reggaeton industry," and indeed “It’d be irresponsible of me to say yes” wouldn't follow from that non-yes/no question). Why didn't they just quote the actual (short) paragraph, rather than attempting to paraphrase it?

(also, yeah, a pet peeve of mine is articles that say things like "set some parts of the internet aflame" and then offer three random tweets. I would hope they're representative of many more, for there to be an actual controversy)

I feel like people are disingenuous and refuse to consider the position of the musician as an individual, setting weird expectations that the current superstar has a passionate inspirational tirade ready. The music press echoing with exaggerated collective expressions like "setting the internet aflame", or using ambiguity like "accused of being silent", and trying to hint at a narrative hours after interviewing. Really ? When humbly acknowledging the limits of your position and offering a rather strong positive message that anti-Black racism is real but isn't enough stop the development of Black artists is really no bad response at all if you leave it at that. At least, that's certainly one thing that helps slowly shift the lines of discrimination. Any positive example to be found in a complex social reality should not be opposed to the (generally shared) view that racism is setting back society.

― Nabozo, Wednesday, April 12, 2023 6:35 AM (five hours ago)

i think what you're saying here about the media & ppl's expectations for artists in interviews is largely true, as the vast majority of interviews these days are not set up for, like, genuinely interesting and thought provoking conversation between the interviewer and subject. the idea of a confrontational question feels almost like kayfabe these days? that being said, "passionate inspirational tirade" could also just be... a not unreasonable expectation that certain artists have thought critically about their positions, why & how they got them, structural aspects of industry/society that may have greased the skids etc. i think a lot of famous people would do great to have ppl close to them prompt them to think critically about their statuses as celebrities! in a sense this is "media training" (which does happen, i'm sure bad bunny has been thru it) but i'm talking about something deeper. he may actually have interesting or profound things to say about colorism somewhere in there, but the 5,000th interview he's done is prob not the place where those thoughts are going to come out if he's not already been having those conversations & debates privately w/ ppl he can trust to bounce his opinions off of. which is really just normal friend shit most of us have access to, but i don't think lots of famous ppl have friendships like that. so these conversations are mediated entirely thru social media, the media, the star, the star's team etc. not conducive to introspection & such

not qualified to weigh in on anything else here but I will say that "US centric problems" invariably affect the whole world and the George Floyd protests in particular were a huge international event, I went to blm protests around that time here in the UK and my friends in Portugal and Brazil did likewise

Black Puerto Rican reggaeton pioneer Tego Calderon not getting his due attention and not acknowledging the reasons for it, or the struggles Tego endured, is more than an "US centric problem"

I also feel like the practice of not rendering interviews fully, but picking and choosing extracts in the frame the journalist chooses is super disrespectful. If you're taking apart a conversation, you're also killing it. And the reader is forced to accept a narrative, can't check the context, only invited to have ephemeral emotional reactions, and the artist goes from subject to object. And yes, tweets reacting to past declarations being quoted together with fresh declarations by the artist, wtf ?

To Jordan S: Yes, but that's also the job of the journalist to have thought about it, instead of trying to trip the artist into a sensitive debate and see if he doesn't say something clumsy. "What role has colorism played in the reggaeton industry" sounds more like a question for a university thesis. I'm doubting the honesty and genuine interest of the journalist.

I will also say that he gave me the exact same answer three years ago. He’s had time to educate himself since then—as he’s already done wrt other issues. As journalists, we should not uncritically accept lines celebrities have used before to deflect difficult conversations. https://t.co/l9oCdaZgEV

— Carina del Valle Schorske (@FluentMundo) April 2, 2023

What do you mean by the post? (Not being snarky)