thread of bad bunny

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)

Just that another journalist (Carina has written for NY Times and has a book coming out) who had interviewed Bad Bunny, also thought Bad Bunny's comments to her re racism 3 years ago weren't that well-informed , and that as he has educated himself and spoken out re other issues, she thought he should on this one as well

If he had said, in the Time interview, "I do agree that race and colorism play a role in the success of a reggaeton artist," how would it change the story or reporting on the subject (colorism and racism in reggaeton)?

Obviously it’s complicated, but when an artist as massively popular as Bad Bunny says something it’s going to get a little more attention than if just some obscure writers say it on twitter. Bunny financed and showed a film doc on the political situation in Puerto Rico that he showed before his gig on the stadium tour I saw . The writers and critics here are hoping he will speak out more on these issues as well

He kinds of addresses his discomfort with that point a little later in the interview (“You’re not going to ask Daddy Yankee something like that”).

I can understand fans & critics being upset by his answers. I don't think (just my pov) that "journalism" involves not being satisfied with a celebrity's attempt to deflect difficult conversations. I think those attempts can def. can be part of the story – "The genre's biggest (white-identifying) star isn't able to acknowledge..." etc. And noting that if a figure like BB were able to acknowledge these issues, then he may be able to take certain steps to effect change. But I don't think that pushing back on his statements is a "journalistic" role.

To put it another way, reporting on the issue is asking him the question. Pushing for a different answer is something different.

otm

I know it’s important for celebrities to use their star power to inform people and seek support for NPOs, but another part of me wishes celebrities would stay on their lanes of expertise. The pandemic and the aftermath has shown me that most of the time when a celebrity has a big, loud opinion on something is usually embarrasing and downright dangerous.

So many celebrities I kind of liked have revealed themselves as uninformed morons and I would’ve preferred not knowing what they have to say about anything other than what they are working on or what inspires them.

Sure, there are also celebrities whose whole thing is being deeply involved in politics but I consider those as speaking from an area of expertise. And in that case it’s better they show you their cards before listening to where they’re coming from.

Bad Bunny has pretty much only one political song in his repertoire (El Apagon) that was written by someone else (mag + young paci). It’s probably for the best he’s not very vocal about politics.

What about Compositor del Año? I had a student write about that song and she mentioned it was not an album track but it does address some of these issues (BLM specifically)

Also features a line about Little Richard & samples Tutti Frutti!
https://genius.com/Bad-bunny-compositor-del-ano-lyrics

Bad Bunny also was involved with Residente in the protests against ex-Governor Ricardo Rosselló

yep, def weird to paint BB as some kind of apolitical figure. there’s also this for example - notably for an American audience:

https://www.insider.com/jimmy-fallon-bad-bunny-paid-tribute-to-murdered-transgender-woman-2020-2

bad bunny has been marketed as political so I think its fair to ask him to weigh in on things, to challenge him as an interviewer, and to also recognize the limits of a pop star's ability to meaningfully speak to political issues ... something like colorism though isn't just a 'political issue,' its existential. anyway

Bad Bunny was just 1st Latino headliner at Coachella. Here’s Rolling Stone re part of his set:

Toward the middle of his set, a video explaining the history of salsa began playing, honoring legends like Celia Cruz, La Lupe, Johnny Pacheco and more. Several dancers came out and performed to salsa classics before Bad Bunny transitioned into the Grammy-nominated Cardi B track “I Like It.” He also paid tribute to old-school reggaeton with another video about the roots of the music that called out the Black influences and biggest names in the genre. Quickly, the beloved reggaeton duo Jowell Y Randy came out with Nengo Flow for the hit “Safaera.

I stand corrected. 'Compositor del Año' is definitely political. And hey looking at those lyrics that most definitely prove he wasn't silent about BLM, George Floyd and Police Brutality - I went back to look at the accusations of him being silent on the whole thing and what would you know: their source for 'outrage' is a pair of isolated tweets by users with like 1,000 followers.

and he also gave a statement on TIME

https://time.com/5852446/bad-bunny-black-lives-matter/

I was misguided by the internet fake outrage machine. Anyways it's easily disprovable that he was in fact supportive of the movement and that reports on his 'silence' were heavily exaggerated. That said, I still think celebrities lack of opinion on politics shouldn't be a reason to rally against them.

New Bad Bunny single out . Performs with Mexican act Grupo Frontera

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3inw26U-os4

Grupo Frontera is actually from the US

Oh yeah, Texas rooted "Regional Mexican" music.

https://remezcla.com/music/watch-bad-bunny-jams-to-peso-pluma-at-coachella/

https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/event/the-bad-bunny-symposium-thinking-with-bad-bunny-beibi-2/

May 12 & 13 symposium in person and virtual

symposium coming.

symposium on Bad Bunny in NYC (and on zoom friday and Saturday daytime et)

Symposium is gonna be put on youtube . I heard a bit and found it interesting

New song “Where She Goes”

Eh , it’s ok