To say that Bad Bunny’s latest album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” is having a moment would be an understatement. It spent 3 weeks at number one on the Billboard’s Top 100, with every one of its tracks making an appearance on the Top 100 Billboard charts (a new record). Many are referring to this album as Bad Bunny’s love letter to Puerto Rico, aka Borinquen, where the rapper and singer is from, with the title track, “DtMF” becoming the viral soundtrack for videos of people posting photo montages of their loved ones. In fact, every step of the release of this record has been an extension of that serenade: “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS,” which translates to I should have taken more photos, was released the day before Three Kings Day (a holiday bigger than Christmas on the island). Instead of going on tour, he will hold a 30-day residency in Puerto Rico starting August 1 titled “No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí” (I don’t want to leave from here), making 10 of those days exclusively for Puerto Rican residents. It is estimated that this residency will infuse $200M into the Puerto Rican economy.
He also released a short film simultaneously warning of the impact of gentrification on the island and affirming that Puerto Ricans are still here. The film features a Puerto Rican scholar Jacobo Morales in the role of an elder Bad Bunny who remains on the island lamenting its many changes and is full of regrets that “[he] should have taken more photos” of the way things used to be. In the opening scene, Morales digs up a Puerto Rican flag with the light blue triangle. This flag, representing the movement for independence, was outlawed and cause for persecution until 1957. The short film also features an animated sapo concho, a toad species native to Puerto Rico that was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1966, and remains critically endangered due to loss of habitat caused by urban development and agriculture. The toad’s plight runs parallel to that of the human Puerto Ricans, who are experiencing displacement from their island yet are still determined to persevere.
Let’s dive deeper into some of the tracks that showcase the love for Puerto Rico.
Celebrating the Puerto Rican Community in New York
“DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” opens up with a sample from a classic Puerto Rican salsa song “Un Verano en Nueva York” by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. “NUEVAYoL,” intentionally spelled and pronounced in an unapologetic Caribbean Spanish accent, describes the fun times to be had while visiting New York. The lyrics extend a nod to prominent Nuyoricans, and reflect an appreciation for the good times that can be had among the diasporic Puerto Rican community in New York.
Evoking home with salsa
On “BAILE INoLVIDABLE” (Unforgettable Dance), Bad Bunny uses a lover as a metaphor for home. This Sad Bunny song expresses his assumption that this is who he would grow old with, reflecting that he learned how to love and how to dance from this first love. The track breaks into a prominent salsa sound that moves you out of your seat and onto the dancefloor (or living room in my case). The accompanying music video shows Bad Bunny learning how to dance salsa, and thereby bridging both the music and dance from previous generations to today’s youth. Another track that makes use of salsa is “La MuDANZA”. This one starts as a spoken word piece recounting how his parents met, and gives props to them for breaking patterns while emphasizing the importance of storytelling as a method of preserving oral histories.
The mainland taking from the island
Anthropologist Oscar Lewis dreamt of “a Puerto Rico without Puerto Ricans.” Bad Bunny alludes to this quote on “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” which opens with the line “this is a dream I had,” and continues the metaphor of the lover by describing her beauty despite her challenges. In the case of Puerto Rico, these challenges are rooted in economic and political disempowerment. Since it gained independence from Spain, Puerto Rico has remained a territory of the United States that is without representative power and perpetually awaiting on the possibility of statehood. Bad Bunny draws a parallel to what has happened to the former kingdom of Hawaii as a result of colonization and subsequently statehood, and laments the similar attempts to restrict coastal access, take land, and further displace Puerto Ricans, who are at times then left with no option but to leave to the mainland U.S. “Se oye al jíbaro llorando, otro más que se marchó (you can hear the Jibaro crying, another who left), No quería irse pa' Orlando, pero el corrupto lo echó” (he didn’t want to leave to Orlando, but the corrupt pushed him out). He closes by asking his compatriots to not let go of their flag.
“TURiSTA” keeps the metaphor going, but speaks to a lover with a superficial attraction; one who is only around for the good times, and doesn’t stay around long enough to support you through the suffering. Essentially describing the shallow attraction that a tourist may have with the island, because they don’t stay long enough to withstand the aches and pains that Puerto Ricans experience from inequities that come with residing on the island due to its status as a territory.
Home is where the plena plays
One of the most exciting aspects of this project is Bad Bunny’s incorporation and elevation of plena, an Afro-Puerto Rican sound from rural communities on the island, as heard on “CAFé CON RON,” (featuring Los Pleneros de la Cresta). On the album’s title track, “DtMF,” the plena sounds come in raw, authentic form, as if he and his friends picked up the instruments at a house party and someone happened to capture the sound. Highlighting plena is the ultimate plea of “will you love me at my most authentic self?,” a musical choice that truly solidifies this album as a love letter to Puerto Rico.
