It's been just over a year since Bad Bunny released his brash fifth album: Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana. An album that saw him show off a lavish lifestyle, including residence in the Hollywood Hills and a supermodel as a girlfriend. Amid the trap beats pounding in his head in dark nightclubs, Bad Bunny seemed lost in a vortex of unfathomable fame as he struggled through the frenetic year following the release of the record that changed his career, A Verano Sin Ti. Everything seemed inaccessible, worlds away from the ex-boyfriend who bagged goods at the supermarket turned reggaeton innovator. So where do you go when you need to find yourself? For Bad Bunny the answer is one: go home.
In his sixth album, Debí Tirar Más FotosBad Bunny takes listeners with him through 17 songs that chronicle Puerto Rico's kaleidoscope of genres. It all sounds like fresh jubilation, and Benito (that's his real name) takes the best moments from it A Verano Sin Ti pushing the sound into uncharted territory of popular music and Puerto Rican salsa.
The journey begins in New York, a key point of the Puerto Rican diaspora, from “Loisaida” to the Bronx. Bad Bunny calls on the city to declare his greatness, crediting Boricua legends who paved the way for him like salsa singer Willie Colon and 1990s hip-hop producer Big Pun. And after a stop in Miami for a quick Bad Bunny finally lands in Puerto Rico with a crucial reminder: It's the birthplace of both him and reggaeton.
Bad Bunny can't help but bask in the childlike joy of being there again, and the title track sums up this feeling. DTMF blends beats inspired by his 2020 album Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Ganawith the vocals seemingly recorded in the emerald green courtyard seen on the album cover. And it's almost as if the artist was sitting in one of those plastic lawn chairs, drinking rum and enjoying it all. The lyrics are a big departure from his 2023 mindset as he shares his new life philosophy: «Ya no estamo' pa' la movie' y las cadena/'Tamos pa' las things' that are worth it» (“We're no longer for the flashy things and the chains/We're here for the things that are really worth it”). What things? Loved ones, who must be commemorated by taking more photos, precisely.
Bad Bunny also made sure to bring some emerging artists from Puerto Rico onto the record: singer-songwriter RaiNao sings in New perfumeChuwi's Lorén Torres offers her soprano for that trap-laden daydream Weltitawhile Dei V and Omar Courtz compete in verses on an old school reggaeton track, although the most surprising collaboration comes from Los Pleneros de la Cresta, a band dedicated to keeping the Plena in modern times. Listen Café With Ron to believe.
In Baile InolvidableBad Bunny takes the sauce and creates his own take on the genre. The chorus already sounds like an instant classic.
Meanwhile, the political side of Bad Bunny, absent in his last album, shines through again. The song Lo Que Le Pasó in Hawaii blends the folk music of Puerto Rico's jibaro people, who reside in the island's countryside and mountains, with hip-hop percussion that makes every word sound like a warning. «No, don't forget the bandera or forget the lelolai» (“No, don't drop the flag or forget the lelolai”). A warning to its people: become independent from the United States or remain an American colony?
Bad Bunny closes the album with The Mudanzain which he declares that he will stay in Puerto Rico forever, which almost sounds like a statement of defiance at a time when corruption on the island is driving more and more people to leave. And perhaps, writing a song and an album so proudly boricua at the height of fame is the strongest act he could have done, as if he had found a new peak to climb right there, in his home. On the album earlier he stated that he was in his prime. Now, we can say that it finally is.
From Rolling Stone US.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
