Bad Bunny Highlights Puerto Rico’s Post-Hurricane Maria Struggles in New Single “Una Velita”

Bad Bunny is shining a light on Puerto Rico’s struggles with an impactful new single.

The track not only comes on the heels of Hurricane Maria’s seventh anniversary, but also during election season, which he has been vocal about, using his social media platforms to encourage his millions of followers to make sure they’re registered to vote.

Bad Bunny“Obviously the light will go out, God knows if it’ll come back,” he continues singing in Spanish over a riveting folkloric beat that grows with intensity, matching the song’s urgency.

“The bridge they took so long to build, the growing river will break. A few songs on the phone for when the reception goes out. The sign was sent and they don’t want to see it, it’s up to the Boricua to want to wake up … Remember that we’re all from here, the people will have to save its pueblo.”

It’s not the first time that Bad Bunny has used his music to shed light on topics that are important to him and the Puerto Rican community.

In 2022, he released a nearly 23-minute-long documentary for his blunt track “El Apagón” from his blockbuster album Un Verano Sin Ti, in which the chart-topping artist addresses blackouts and gentrification, among other topics, taking aim at the local government for its inaction when it comes to these social issues.

Bad Bunny: Spotify’s Most-Streamed Artist for Third Consecutive Year

Bad Bunny is (three) ringing in the New Year with a bang…

The 28-year-old Puerto Rican global superstar has generated more than 18.5 billion streams in 2022, landing him the title of Spotify’s top artist for the third year in a row—the first artist ever to claim such an accomplishment.

Bad BunnySpotify celebrated the artist’s success with 1,000 of his biggest fans, collaborators, and supporters in Mexico, the top market to stream his music over the last three years.

Spotify and Rimas (Bad Bunny’s label) joined forces to throw the ultimate after-party at Ragga Club in Mexico City to celebrate the end of his World’s Hottest Tour.

Artists Rauw AlejandropaopaoJowell & RandyCarin LeonDanna PaolaKim LoaizaJuan de Dios PantojaMario BautistaBuscabulla, and Arcángel were among some of the guests toasting Bad Bunny.

The artist even took to the stage in a surprise special performance where he thanked everyone for streaming his music and for celebrating this incredible moment with him. He surprised the crowd with an improvised performance of his hit “Despues de la Playa,” and with acoustic versions of “Neverita,” “Callaita,” and “El Apagon” with the backing of a Dahian El Apechao’s live merengue band.

Bad Bunny, Spotify Three RingsKey to the celebration was the Ring Ceremony, where Jeremy Erlich, Spotify’s Global Head of Music Content, joined Bad Bunny for a celebratory moment on behalf of Spotify.

“Congratulations on the three-peat—the first time any artist is the most streamed for three years in a row,” he shared. “An epic showing for a career-defining year.”

Then, Jeremy presented the artist with three championship-style rings, designed by Jason of Beverly Hills, to symbolize each year he was the top-streamed global artist on Spotify.

Spotify also created five plaques, each representing a Bad Bunny track that has passed the one billion stream mark—“Yonaguni,” “Callaita,” “LA CANCIÓN,” “Te Boté – Remix,” “No Me Conoce – Remix”—and Jeremy presented some of these to him as well.

Bad Bunny’s music hasn’t just made an impact for the artist: It’s also contributed to the growth of reggaeton and trap Latino worldwide. Reggaeton listening grew 147% from 2018-2020, and trap Latino listening grew 187% in the same timeframe. Meanwhile, newcomers are still finding and falling in love with Bad Bunny’s music. Over the past 90 days, 95 million listeners played one of his tracks for the first time, with 51% of those plays occurring outside of Spanish-speaking markets.

What’s more, his fourth studio album, Un Verano Sin Ti, topped the world’s most-streamed album list in 2022, and the rest of his albums continue to have staying power. His first album, X 100PRE, is still ranked in the Top 100 most-streamed albums globally, coming in at slot 68. And out of the six Latin albums in the Top 50 most-streamed albums globally this year, three of them were Bad Bunny’s: Un Verano Sin Ti (#1), YHLQMDLG (#8), and EL ÚLTIMO TOUR DEL MUNDO (#21).

Bad Bunny Releases 23-Minute Documentary-Style Music Video for His Political Track “El Apagón”

Bad Bunny is highlighting the issues affecting his beloved Puerto Rico.

In his most recent music video — a nearly 23-minute long documentary for his blunt track “El Apagón” — the 28-year-old chart-topping Puerto Rican artist addresses blackouts and gentrification, among other topics, taking aim at the local government for their inaction when it comes to important social issues.

Bad Bunny“I hope people in PR can watch my video before the lights go out,” he posted on Instagram Stories on Friday, September 16, minutes after releasing the clip, which begins with the song’s intro powered by thumping beats while featuring locals singing along to his song.

Then, at the one-minute-mark, the song stops and in come news reports of blackouts that have now become the norm in Puerto Rico, impacting the daily lives of citizens — including children, who have to do their homework in the dark.

There are also reports about LUMA Energy, the company the Puerto Rican government hired to “modernize and maintain” the island’s power grid, and the little action they’ve taken to fix electricity issues. The Puerto Rican power grid has been in poor shape since Hurricane Maria struck in 2017, leaving the island’s energy infrastructure in bad shape. Bunny has criticized LUMA before, specifically during his concerts in Puerto Rico right before singing this track.

The video then goes back to the song, this time featuring a handful of people at a club having the time of their lives. Shortly after, the remainder of the short film is dedicated to gentrification and displacing Puerto Ricans are facing.

“They are displacing the native boricua from here,” a woman says sitting in front of a group of people who are figuring out where to go after they’ve been displaced from their own homes.

The documentary’s news reports are led by Puerto Rican journalist Bianca Graulau, who’s done significant reporting on these topics.

On Instagram, she posted: “What an honor for them to trust me to tell the stories of our community. Thank you to all of those that made this project a reality. And thank you, Bad Bunny, for sharing your platform and supporting independent journalism.”

 

The track is part of Bad Bunny’s Billboard 200-topping album, Un Verano Sin Ti, which currently hit its 10th nonconsecutive week at No. 1.