Bad Bunny is much more than a singer. He is a mass phenomenon, as we are seeing these days with his concerts in Spain. But he not only stirs musical passions, he has become a reference for the most disadvantaged classes thanks to the social awareness that many of his song lyrics convey. And this is one of the successes and achievements of his artistic proposal.
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As a socio-political megaphone, one of his battlegrounds is political corruption and the institutional abandonment suffered by the most humble and needy people. A clear example is found in the song Una Velita, in which he denounces the slow and deficient response of the authorities after Hurricane Maria, as well as the constant blackouts that plague his native island, Puerto Rico. The artist also sings against gentrification. The purchase of land by foreign investors raises the cost of living and forces his compatriots to leave the country. He exposes this in LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii: “They want to take away my river and also the beach. They want my neighborhood and for your children to leave.” And for those children who leave and arrive in the United States, the Puerto Rican has launched an intense campaign against Trump. He canceled his concerts due to immigration raids and the president choked on the singer’s performance at the Super Bowl halftime show. “Nobody understands a word this guy says,” Trump spat at the time. And now, what is not understood is how Benito risks contradicting the ideals that have defined much of his discourse, probably without meaning to.
The privileged of ‘La casita’ involuntarily become the showcase of an inequality that the artist himself often denounces
The reggaeton artist, established as the great defender of his roots against threatening globalization, wanted to showcase his humble origins and all the values that entails by installing ‘La casita’ at his concerts, that is, a structure in the shape of a traditional Puerto Rican house that functions as a second, more intimate stage where he sings his most personal songs surrounded, in principle, by a few friends and some fans.
However, what was intended to be a symbol of home and resistance, a visual metaphor of that fight against the powerful and in favor of identity and the right not to have to leave one’s own land, has ended up becoming a luxury chalet for VIPs and elite guests. Celebrities and influencers have displaced those who were supposed to be ‘his people’. Bad Bunny has unwittingly entered a paradox that questions how a global superstar can authentically represent popular values without ending up reproducing privileges. And even more: he is also accused of machismo and elitism for choosing among fans a single profile: normative young women. That is, beauties to make the stage look good.
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Bad Bunny’s matter can get out of hand. Part of his audience rebels on social media and accuses him of elitism, exclusion, and superficiality. The privileged of ‘La casita’, mostly guests who have not paid the high ticket costs, involuntarily become the showcase of an inequality that the artist himself often denounces. Many of the Puerto Rican’s fans have saved for months to be able to see him live. And what they end up seeing is a staging of social injustice. Another one. And the worst: under the name of Bad Bunny.
The Puerto Rican still has eight concerts left in Madrid to react. To rectify is wise. And Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio is no fool. He can still prove without major disappointments that his message is not just marketing, but a real conviction. And that ‘La casita’, as Sisa said in her great song Qualsevol nit pot sortir el sol, ends up being “the house of everyone” and not just of the privileged.
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