BAD BUNNY
BAD BUNNY
Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio was born on March 10, 1994 in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. He is mostly known by his stage name Bad Bunny. He is a singer, rapper, songwriter, composer, and producer in the Latin Trap and Reggaeton genres. While working at a supermarket and attending the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, Benito began to gain traction when he would upload to SoundCloud under the name Bad Bunny. His song Diles was a major hit and grabbed the attention of DJ Luian and producers Mambo Kingz which would lead him to get signed to the record label, Hear this Music. He established himself as an artist with his single Soy Peor which reached number 22 on the Hot Latin songs chart and now has over 750 million views on YouTube. With each song that he dropped he would get bigger with collaborations with artists Farruko, Karol G, Nicki Minaj, Becky G, etc.
It was during this time that I began to listen to Bad Bunny. It was specifically with the song Chambea which featured a cameo of wrestling legend Ric Flair in the music video. The fact that Ric Flair was on the video made wrestling fan accounts post about Flair’s appearance in the video which grabbed my attention because I am a huge wrestling fan. In the beginning I did not get much into the music because I simply did not understand what he was saying but since I had to commute to CSUN an hour away I would listen to him every car ride home and eventually I got used to his accent.The songs that greatly grabbed my attention were his Latin Trap songs with Arcangel. Specifically, Tu No Vive Asi and Me Acostumbre. These songs just gave me this tremendous energy that I cannot even describe.
x100pre
With his continued success, in May 2018 he landed his first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with the song I Like It” with Cardi B and J Balvin. The song was a Spanglish song which was able to reach different audiences around the world. He also had concluded his first Worldwide tour “La Nueva Religion Tour” which grossed at $16 million. Then in October 2018 he released the single “Mia” featuring, one of the biggest artists in the world today, Drake.
This was the first tour I was able to attend of Bad Bunny. I went to his show on April 20, 2019 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. It was honestly a dream come true and the energy he brings on stage has been unmatched by any other artist I have seen live. In a way his concerts do not feel like concerts but a celebration of him and all the Latinos around the world.
On June 28, 2019 he released the collaborative album, Oasis, with J Balvin. The album had a surprise release and charted at number one for the Billboard US Latin Albums chart. He then continued to perform for his x100pre tour. This was the second time I saw him. I had won a giveaway form Cardenas Marketing Network’s CMN Events, which is the booking manager for Bad Bunny, on Instagram. I had originally won tickets for the show at The Forum in Inglewood but when I got to the box office, they claimed they had no tickets for me. CMN apologized to me and they claimed they did not know how that could have happened. They gave me the opportunity to pick any show in California that I wanted to attend to and I chose the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. I was afraid that the same thing would happen to me, that I would show up to the box office and they wouldn’t have tickets for me. But luckily this time they did and the tickets said row one, which got me really excited because it meant no one would be in front of me no matter where in the arena I was. Luckily for me when I got to my section, the seats were front row right in front of the stage. I was instantly filled with excitement that I was about to see Benito and feel his energy from the front row. Overall, the show was amazing and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
He released the first single and music video to his new album on November 22, 2019,VETE, teasing the letters YHLQMDLG at the end of the video. Instantly fans everywhere came up with the meaning that the letters stood for Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana which translates to I do whatever I want which is something Bad Bunny is known for. Then in February 2020, Benito was a surprise guest performer for the Super Bowl LIV halftime show which was headlined by the Latin Queens Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. This had established that Benito Martinez had “made it”. And not only in the Spanish speaking market but now the US market as well. He then was a special guest for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and announced that his album YHLQMDLG, Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana, would release on leap day 2020. The album had 20 songs of all styles, and some specifically paying homage to the music Benito would listen growing up at parties. One special touch of the album was the last song of the album < 3, where Benito thanks everyone for letting him accomplish what he has accomplished because without his people he would be nothing. He also claims that his new album would be coming out in nine months so he can calmly retire like the Puerto Rican boxer Miguel Cotto, because he is getting tired of the fame and its taking a toll on his mental health so even though his best songs have not released yet he wants to retire. The album debuted at number two on the US billboard 200, making it the highest charting all Spanish album ever. Interesting enough, his first album x100pre tied the record for the longest running number one album of the century on the Top Latin Albums chart for 46 weeks but himself with YHLQMDLG would not allow him to break it. YHLQMDLG charted at number one on the Top Latin Album Chart. There’s a lot of speculation on what is the future for him as he is currently the biggest star in the world. Some think he might retire, and some say that there is no way he can retire with his success. One thing I know is that Benito will never fail to amaze me with his creative mind and song writing abilities.