The Multi-Cultural Impact of Bad Bunny's 'Un Verano Sin Ti'!

Bad Bunny is a global icon. Sharing music about heartbreak, love, and longing, Un Verano Sin Ti is his newest album touching the hearts of many around the world. 

Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio a.k.a Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican born artist who has taken the world by storm with his Reggaeton and Latin Trap styles of music. Born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, and growing up around different Latin genres such as Merengue and Salsa, music is something that has always been a part of his life. Puerto Rico is not only a beautiful island, but it also engulfs a beautiful culture full of unique food, sounds, and, of course, music. 

As Bad Bunny continues to grow in popularity, his music carries a sensational feeling through every track. Un Verano Sin Ti is a perfect album with sounds that are perfect for long Summer drives and beach days. "Aguacero" and "Moscow Mule" include sounds of the beach and seagulls in the distance, transporting anyone who listens to Paradise. It makes you feel like you should be on a beach sipping a Mojito or a Sangría. Throughout the album, Bad Bunny talks about many things including love, his culture, his people, and his island. He includes the familiar sounds of merengué on tracks like “Después de La Playa”, which he performed as the opening for the 65th Grammy Awards. "Ojitos Lindos" featuring Bomba Estéreo is a song that seems to be about unrequited love, and I'm sure many people can identify with that feeling of wishing you could tell someone, “Con tu alma es la que yo conecto” -- "your soul is the one I connect with" -- but not being able to. 

Other songs on the album like “El Apagón”, literally meaning “The Blackout”, rallies Puerto Ricans together because it refers to the value Puerto Ricans have for their island and the unfairness surrounding their island slowly being taken away by the wealthy. This includes the purchase of schools and apartment buildings by people living overseas in order to develop them into luxury apartments, Airbnbs, or hotels and displacing the Latinos who already live there. In his music video, Bad Bunny includes clips of news reports about the blackout that happened in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria that left the island in darkness for weeks. 

"El Apagón" says, “Puerto Rico está bien cabrón!” and “Está es mi playa, está es mi sol, está es mi tierra, está soy yo” -- "Puerto Rico is fine, bastard", "This is my beach, this is my sun, this is my land, this is me" -- showing that their home isn't something that should just be taken; it is more than just a beautiful island. By including songs like this one, Bad Bunny sheds light on Puerto Rico and the fragile political and economic situation. In September of 2022, he released the documentary Aquí vive gente, produced by Bianca Graulau, along with the music video for “El Apagón” that goes into more depth about Puerto Rico’s situation. 

As this album is gaining more and more global recognition, it is not only significant for Puerto Ricans but also for many Latinos, as Bad Bunny continues to show that Latino heritage is something to be proud of. His music encourages people to show up as who they are and never compromise that, and Bad Bunny is an artist who has done the exact same. The fact that his albums are in Spanish and have become such a hit in places where many different languages are spoken speaks volumes. It shows that his music is also about how it makes you feel. Whether it makes you want to dance or cry or scream from the top of your lungs, it makes you feel something. Bad Bunny has been able to bring the Latino heritage to the forefront of the world and bring la cultura to the stage. Front and center. 

Un Verano Sin Ti has won many awards including the most recent being a Grammy Award for Best Música Urbana Album. If you haven't listened to this amazing album, go take a listen. Trust me, it's worth the hype, and if anything, you'll discover you're new favorite artist!