All good things must come to an end, or something like that. Currently posted up, criss-cross-apple-sauce, in the Madrid terminal getting ready for my flight back to the States. The best way I could think of paying homage to the past five months is through song. Not my song, of course, but Bad Bunny’s. After enough hours in Reggaeton clubs, the music does really start to hit. Prior to coming to Madrid, my Spanish music taste screamed half-Mexican living in the Northeast—it was filled with mostly old banda I stole from my grandpa and some additional corridos by folks like Peso Pluma. Now, over the past months I’d say the playlists have been diversified and are filled with Bad Bunny, Feid, FloyyMenor, Fuerza Regida and more.
Now of these new additions, which album hit the hardest? Since I’m newer in the reggaeton arena, I’d say I still take random singles and haven’t listened to too many albums all the way through. I did really mess with Feid’s MOR, No Le Temas a La Oscuridad. But the big standout was Bad Bunny’s drop back in January, DeBÍ TiRAR Más FOToS (means “I should have taken more photos” btw). I wasn’t the only one to love this one–as Bad Bunny’s sixth solo studio album, it hit the #1 spot in the US (and many more countries) Billboard Top 200. Of the six Spanish-language albums that have hit that top spot in the US, Benito now holds four of those titles.
The album received loads of positive critical acclaim for drawing attention to themes of gentrification and loss of cultural identity in Puerto Rico. In Maya Georgi of Rolling Stone’s 5-star review, she described the release as “homegrown, jubilant, and fresh.” He does a great job of mixing traditional, local genres like plena, jíbara, and salsa with a more modern reggaeton. Basically Bad Bunny has an ear for making great music and created a stellar album. Let’s get into it.
To me, Bad Bunny is an uncontroversial Puerto Rican Kanye West. Now hear me out. You can tell that each song has samples from old, probably much more traditional songs. But he takes them and whips them into something new. One great example is the opener, “NUEVAYoL,” which was sampled from “Un Verano en Nueva York” and originally performed by Andy Montañez and El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. He adds in this dembow rhythm and immediately turns it into a club banger. The 3-minute song takes you through at least three different moods. I’d say the ability to bridge genres and create multiple distinct vibes in one song is Kanye-like. I’d even throw Travis Scott into this masterful mix, especially with UTOPIA. Disclaimer: this analysis is strictly separating artist from person (Ye).
Onto song two of the release, which is “VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR,” aka my favorite song. My love for this song only tells you how much I have come around to house music. The whole opening electronic melody screams house. He puts a great reggaeton base and just gets into it for two-and-a-half minutes. Beautiful.
Immediately following that song is “BAILE INoLVIDABLE.” I can’t stay seated when this one comes on. After his minute-long intro that only revs up the salsa dancer inside of me more, the song breaks into a heaven-sent dancing tune.
No, no te puedo olvidar
No, no te puedo borrar
Tú me enseñaste a querer
Me ensañaste a bailar
Tell me that’s not George Michael right there. Unforgettable dance… never dancing again. The resemblance is there, and I’m standing by that one.
Some others that belong on some playlist somewhere are “El CLúB,” “KLOuFRENS,” “CAFé CON RON,” “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” and “EoO.” Each song draws on major cultural themes, so if interested you should definitely look into that. Unfortunately, I am short on energy and can’t put it all in here. Here’s a quick article that could give you a preview.
Anyway, I thank you all—Madrid and my new latino friends—for exposing me to so much new music. My Spanish vocabulary has definitely been impacted, for better or for worse, from these songs, and I couldn’t be happier. And for you all, give Benito’s album a listen. Until next time I visit a reggaeton discoteca.
PS: here’s the link to a reggaeton-inspired playlist of some of my favorites that I’ve put together during my time here.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deb%C3%AD_Tirar_M%C3%A1s_Fotos
Iz FM 
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