Alt.Latino: Bad Bunny Closes Out His Residency

Summary

Podcast Summary: All Songs Considered — Alt.Latino: Bad Bunny Closes Out His Residency

Release Date: September 17, 2025
Hosts: Felix Contreras, Ana Maria Sayer (NPR)
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico

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Overview

This episode of Alt.Latino centers on the conclusion of Bad Bunny’s historic concert residency in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Hosts Felix Contreras and Ana Maria Sayer reflect on the significance of the event for Puerto Rican culture, the artist’s impact on the island’s economy and society, and the wider resonance of his music for local and diasporic communities. The discussion weaves through personal experiences, interviews with attendees and locals, and an analysis of Bad Bunny’s unique role as a cultural unifier and catalyst for change in Puerto Rico.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Arrival and Personal Reflections

• Felix’s First Bad Bunny Concert

  • Felix describes attending his first live Bad Bunny show (the day after his birthday) as a deeply moving experience, likening it to attending a Grateful Dead concert because of the communal atmosphere.
    • “It was like a Grateful Dead concert. ...There’s this deep sense of community. ...When you’re in that stadium, you’re in that room, it’s all about the music, the band, the solos, the interplay.” — Felix Contreras [01:54–02:48]

• Ana’s Residency Experience

  • Ana has seen the show five times over the summer, each time discovering new layers of meaning and emotion. She emphasizes the rarity of art so globally popular being created with such care and intention.
    • “Great art, culture-shifting art, life-changing art. ...That’s what this show really is. It’s life changing.” — Ana Maria Sayer [05:02–05:29]

• Universal Community Feeling

  • Both hosts and their producer, Soraya, who speaks little Spanish, felt included by the music and the atmosphere, highlighting the show’s power to transcend language and culture.
    • “I didn’t feel like an outsider. I felt included. I felt like the familia.” — Felix Contreras [04:41–05:17]

Emotional and Cultural Significance

• Representation and Homecoming

  • Many attendees, including those from the diaspora, feel that Bad Bunny’s concerts are a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The emotional intensity is palpable.
    • “I’ve talked to many Puerto Ricans who say I’m going just because this is a once in a lifetime experience...” — Ana Maria Sayer [05:29–06:24]
  • Interview with Samantha Hernandez, who came from New Jersey:
    • “Just seeing how Bad Bunny is bringing all of this revenue to Puerto Rico, to the island, it’s very special. No other artist has done that. ...One man on a mission that loves his country, his island, is able to do that.” — Samantha Hernandez [08:42–09:26]

• Pride and Identity

  • Ana recounts screaming in the Uber after the show, losing her voice—not just for the artist, but for Puerto Rico itself.
    • “I was screaming for Puerto Rico. ...In the moments when it’s like screaming ‘Puerto Rico está cabrón!’ ...Yes, he’s an amazing showman, but he is so successful at channeling the energy of this place.” — Ana Maria Sayer [07:06–08:12]

• Making Puerto Ricanness Inclusive

  • Bad Bunny is seen as making space for all shades of Puerto Rican identity, both on and off the island:
    • “With this album, he made it okay to be Nuyorican. ...In one song, he goes, oh, everyone’s Puerto Rican. And everyone goes, oh, okay, yeah, they’re Puerto Rican, too.” — Ana Maria Sayer [13:40–14:31]
  • Attendees—old and young—find their stories in his lyrics. George Rodriguez, an older fan, connects deeply with themes of success and alienation:
    • “You’re talking about our people, how our people talk and feel. ...That happens here a lot. ...That one for me was basically what’s happening to me. I work hard. I just retired and all that. I made it, so...I feel a lot related to that.” — George Rodriguez [12:35–13:40]

Economic Impact

• A Tourism Boom

  • The residency brought an estimated $350 million to Puerto Rico in three months. The city saw record numbers of visitors, and local businesses boomed.
    • “It’s going to be upwards around $350 million that's been coming into the island over the last three months. ...This boosted it up in the stratosphere.” — Felix Contreras [17:12–18:09]
    • Locals, from Uber drivers to vendors, see the impact firsthand.

• New Opportunities for Locals

  • Juan Gonzalez, a flag vendor, shares how for the first time in 40 years, the influx of global visitors has dramatically increased his business.
    • “He told me he sells in two months what he normally would sell in a year. ...It’s been apotheosic, a word I had to look up. It means tremendous, glorious, amazing, spectacular.” — Ana Maria Sayer [19:47–20:56]

Cultural Impact — Plena, Community, and Responsible Tourism

• Elevating Local Traditions

  • The residency highlighted local music forms like plena, involving more local musicians and exposing them to new audiences. El Boricua in Rio Piedras, a home for pleneros, saw an influx of tourists due to the residency.
    • “The stage that was put up because of the residency...that changed the dynamic because the people that were coming were different.” — Producer Soraya Muhammad [23:30–24:01]

• Tourism and Appropriation

  • Concerns arise regarding tourists adopting local symbols (like the pava straw hat) as props, sometimes without understanding the cultural significance. This raises questions about responsible and respectful tourism on a colonized island.
    • “It feels like...you don’t understand what’s behind that. ...Most people don’t know anything about Puerto Rico beyond the Bad Bunny experience or whatever they hear from his music.” — Producer Soraya Muhammad [24:10–25:53]

Political Influence

• Resonating with Political Change
  • The episode describes recent shifts in Puerto Rican politics, with a new third party nearly winning the governorship, energized in part by artists such as Bad Bunny, who subtly addresses political issues in his music.
    • “He could have just ignored the political situation in Puerto Rico, which is what many artists have done. ...He’s not ignoring it—he’s doing all these things to bring it in a subtle way.” — Paulina Mendez Cordilles [28:56–29:59]

Final Thoughts and Announcements

• Living in the Present, United by Joy and Love

  • Bad Bunny’s closing speech is highlighted as a distillation of Puerto Rican wisdom:

    • “This is what the album is about really...It’s about not living in the past, not living in the future, living in the present, enjoying the present, disfrutando la vida, right? ...We have to do it with love, because to do it with hate—hate only breeds hate.” — Ana Maria Sayer [30:10–31:15]

  • Felix and Ana discuss how the show embodies hope, unity, and the potential for the U.S. to learn from the Puerto Rican embrace of community, diversity, and celebration.

    • “What I felt at the concert was that we’re missing that unifying moment. ...There’s strength in that unity.” — Felix Contreras [32:32–33:58]

• What’s Next?

  • The originally "final" residency show turns out not to be the last: a surprise additional concert will take place on the anniversary of Hurricane Maria (Sept. 20) and be livestreamed globally.
  • Bad Bunny and Amazon Music announce a multi-year partnership to invest in Puerto Rico—including educational programming, disaster relief, and cultural empowerment.
    • “Everything that we’ve been talking about that we said Bad Bunny was hypothetically trying to support, he’s doing in a real concrete way.” — Ana Maria Sayer [35:46–36:29]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [01:54] Felix Contreras:
  “It was like a Grateful Dead concert...he creates this sense of community.”
• [04:41] Felix Contreras:
  “I didn’t feel like an outsider. I felt included. I felt like the familia.”
• [06:54] Ana Maria Sayer:
  “I have to have it all...I was screaming for Puerto Rico...He is so successful at channeling the energy of this place.”
• [12:35, 13:40] George Rodriguez:
  “You’re talking about our people, how our people talk and feel...”
  “When we make it...people get shunned...I feel a lot related to that.”
• [19:47] Ana Maria Sayer (about Juan Gonzalez):
  “He sells in two months what he normally would sell in a year...It’s been apotheosic.”
• [24:10] Producer Soraya Muhammad:
  “It feels like...you don’t understand what’s behind that.”
• [29:59] Paulina Mendez Cordilles:
  “He’s not ignoring it ...he’s doing all these things to bring it in a subtle way.”
• [31:15] Ana Maria Sayer:
  “We have to do it with love, because to do it with hate—hate only breeds hate.”
• [35:46] Ana Maria Sayer:
  “Everything that we’ve been talking about...he’s doing in a real concrete way.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Time | Segment | |---------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:22 | Episode opens: Hosts greet from San Juan, set up Bad Bunny topic| | 01:54 | Felix’s comparison to the Grateful Dead, live music reflections | | 05:17 | Inclusion and community at the concert | | 08:41 | Interview with attendee Samantha Hernandez | | 12:28 | Interview with George Rodriguez on identity and lyrics | | 17:12 | The economic impact of the residency | | 19:47 | Juan Gonzalez, flag vendor, describes economic boost | | 21:41 | Plena, local music culture, and El Boricua segment | | 24:01 | Discussion on responsible tourism & cultural appropriation | | 27:04 | Bad Bunny and Puerto Rican politics | | 29:08 | Paulina Mendez on Bad Bunny’s political influence | | 30:10 | Final reflections: enjoying the present, legacy of the residency| | 33:58 | Broader thoughts on Puerto Rico as a model for unity | | 35:46 | Announcement: Final show, Amazon Music partnership |

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Conclusion

This episode offers a rich, emotional, and extensive exploration of Bad Bunny’s final residency concert, examining how one artist has become not only an entertainment phenomenon but also a force for social, economic, and cultural transformation in Puerto Rico and beyond. Through fan and local voices, personal reflection, and a broader lens on politics and identity, Alt.Latino presents Bad Bunny’s residency as a once-in-a-generation event whose effects will ripple through the island for years to come.

Transcript

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[Producer Soraya Muhammad]

A quick note before the show.

[Commercial Announcer]

This podcast contains explicit language.

[Felix Contreras]

From NPR Music. This is Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

And I'm Ana Maria Sayer. Let the chisme begin.

[Felix Contreras]

Ana, this week I decided to join you in Puerto. Puerto Rico and San Juan. Okay.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

You know how many texts, calls, photos I have tried? I mean, it's been like the project of my summer to get you here.

[Felix Contreras]

Well, because, I mean, it'd be nice to spend time with you, but I had other things on my mind.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

You don't have to lie. It's okay.

[Felix Contreras]

I had other things on my mind. I wanted to come and see the end of the historic Bad Bunny residency here in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Pretty special first experience. Bad Bunny experience for you, Felix.

[Felix Contreras]

First live experience. Yes.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Also the day after your birthday.

[Felix Contreras]

Yes, it was.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Happy birthday.

[Felix Contreras]

Thank you very much. It was quite a gift.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

It was Benito giving you a gift.

[Felix Contreras]

Thank you.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Said last show for you.

[Felix Contreras]

There you go. I appreciate that. Thanks, bro. If you're listening. Okay. So I spent the morning in the water on the beach, like, okay, processing. Because there's so much to take in. And the event itself is a spectacle. And in the good way. Right. It's spectacular, all this stuff, the lighting and everything. But then also, it just triggered so many things for me. So can I go first?

[Ana Maria Sayer]

I was literally about to be like, I know you said I should go first, but I've been dying to know what you thought. I've been all summer long. This is my fifth show. Sorry. It is. I have to say it out loud. All summer long, I've been like, I can't wait till Felix sees this. And he sees this, and he sees this. What's he gonna think? So go ahead.

[Felix Contreras]

It was like a Grateful Dead concert. Okay.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

My jaw is on the floor.

[Felix Contreras]

And here's why. Because what he did and what he's done over 30 days and what he does when he performs, and then with his records, he creates this sense of community. Through music, lyrics, rhythms, sound, all that stuff, he creates this sense of community. And especially with the last record, it was all about Puerto Rican pride and bringing it all back to the island right within himself. And so there's a sense of community. And then last night, you know that feeling you had in the five shows that you've gone to where you're part. It's like you're almost another member of the band. You're like. There was so much give and take. It's a Dead show. It's totally a Dead show.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Wow.

[Felix Contreras]

Yeah.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

There needs to be a plaque or something made on September, whatever, 2025. Felix Contreras said that Bad Bunny's concert was like a Dead show.

[Felix Contreras]

I mean, that's like strictly because my experience with the Grateful Dead while Garcia. Jerry Garcia was still alive, not Dead. And company. There's some of that. But like the original band, there's this deep sense of community. Like, there's so many different people from so many walks of life doing so many different things. But when you're in that stadium, you're in that room, it's all about the music, the band, the solos, the interplay. It was exactly like a Dead show yesterday. And so many different levels. So there's that. Okay, that's one impression. The other impression is, you know, my bar is high. My bar is super musically, live, performance wise, right? I've seen James Brown, I've seen a Springsteen show in 78 is legendary. You know, Prince. I've seen Prince three times going back to the Dirty Minds tour, right? My bar is high. Benito, man, he was on it. He has that. He has those elements of greatness in terms of performance, in terms of like, he's singing to you, even though there's a ninth, 19,500 people in the. In the venue, he's singing to you. And he's got them all in the palm of his hand in a very, very loving and friendly and engaging way. And when he's on top of the casita singing with the other guys that came up to sing with him as guest artists. And when he's singing with the bands, the salsa band, the bomba bands, the plana bands, like, his performance, the three hour performance, as you point out, was. Was on point, non stop. And as I'm watching him and, you know, I sit down at concerts, I just do.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

I know. I couldn't tell. I was like. Felix was sitting there, eyes closed. I was like, is the man like deep meditation or sleeping? I don't know.

[Felix Contreras]

I just take it in because I was listening when you saw me with my eyes closed. It was what? Probably I think the Plano part just listening to all the. All the parts playing.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

No. And I looked at you and Baile and you're crying because it's just.

[Felix Contreras]

It was such an amazing moment. Like, it was. It was that moment of being part of Something bigger. And in all honesty, I'm coming to it from an outsider's perspective because obviously, I'm not Puerto Rican. I'm not raised here. My exposure is to friends through music, through a couple of visits here. But I didn't feel like an outsider. I felt included. I felt like the familia. I felt part of la familia last night.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

So our producer Soraya is sitting here crying again. And I saw her cry so many times last night. Sarayya doesn't speak Spanish. Well, okay. She speaks a little Spanish. She mostly doesn't speak Spanish. And there she, like, that's the. Energetically. You can feel it and what you're describing, right? You had to go in the water and you had to process it. And I've. I spent this whole summer processing this, right? Like, I have seen it five times. I've been on and off the island all summer. This has been my summer is this show. And, you know, we're in this moment. What I think of my latest thought on it, because I have so many, is that art is so. It's so commercial, it's so transactional. It's so quick. More and more and more. It's like, make a quick movie, make a quick album, make a quick whatever. To have someone who is this popular and who is this global, be able to pause and take their time and. And make something slow and meaningful that feels like more than just, you know, I always think good art, great art, culture shifting art, life changing art. Because that's what this show really is. It's life changing. I've talked to many Puerto Ricans who say I'm going just because this is a once in a lifetime experience and that kind of art, to go five times and to actually fall in love with it more on the fifth time, to go and be like, there's every single time 10, 20, 30 things that I'm like, wow, I never thought about life that way, let alone the music. And I think for me, so you can hear my voice, tell them where you were.

[Felix Contreras]

We lost you just walking out of the building.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

I will say I have to disclaimer that it was not just the concert. It was a series of events. Last night, the concert was my first stop. I did sprint out the door. I ditched Felix and Serial. Although I did invite you guys, to be fair, to run and go meet my friends at Pomarosa, which is my favorite karaoke bar in Santurce. And I was like, I have to have it all. And then, of course, I'm in the Uber drive over, screaming with my Uber driver, driver about how much I love Puerto Rico. And he's talking about how much he loves his home and how he's never leaving. And Benito just represents everything that he is. And my claim for why I lost my voice, yes, I was singing, but is because I was screaming for Puerto Rico. Not for him, like, for him, but I was. It was like, in the moments when it's like screaming, puerto Rico. Estacabron. Puerto Rico. Viva Puerto Rico. All of these things, that's where I lost my voice. Because after a summer of being here and sitting in that community, community feeling in the show and then every other experience you have outside of it. Right. Just supports that, like the people. That's what I say. His power, his magic, why this show is successful. Yes, he's an amazing showman, but he is so successful at channeling the energy of this place.

[Felix Contreras]

That's his genius. Right? But it's not about him. It's about the island. Something bigger. That's his genius, man.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

And obviously, Felix, we're not the only people that felt that. A lot of other people feel that way. And of course, I've mentioned this before. Hugely impactful, important, meaningful for people. Puerto Ricans on the island and Puerto Ricans coming home.

[Felix Contreras]

Sure.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

We spoke to someone outside of the venue. Her name is Samantha Hernandez, and she came to Puerto Rico for the show from New Jersey.

[Felix Contreras]

What's up?

[Samantha Hernandez]

The government and like, hurricane after hurricane Maria. And just, like, seeing the support Puerto Rico didn't receive and having family here that was affected by it, and just seeing how Bad Bunny is bringing all of this revenue to Puerto Rico, to the island, it's very special. No other artist has done that. No other government or politician has done that. So the fact that one man on a mission that loves his country, his island, is able to do that is very special. Sorry, I didn't. I did not expect to cry. That's crazy. That was.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Yeah, but.

[Felix Contreras]

Yeah. Okay, Ana, now multiply that emotion like 19,500 times. That's what's in that room.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

And obviously, Felix, I felt that every single time.

[Commercial Announcer]

Right?

[Ana Maria Sayer]

I have cried every single time. Every person I've gone with has cried with me. I brought all my Puerto Rican friends. I will never forget the moment that my friends turned to me and said, I'm so grateful to my mom. She had me here in Puerto Rico, that this is my home. The difference to me for this fifth time, this last show, was Benito, because, you know, when you know, you're in that final finishing victory Lap of something and you're really. You could feel him taking it in, like there were pauses. It's like a. Like a late career, a moment of just pausing and taking in everything that you've done and you could feel him stopping and breathing and the way he kissed Tzuyu and hugged them and announced them. He didn't do that in another show, the way he paused with the legendary Puerto Rican actor Jacobo Morales and talk to him on stage, usually that casita, when he moves to that section with la casita full of people dancing, it's immediately action. Go Nuevall. None of that, it was quiet, he let it be quiet. And he shared a conversation, like an intimate moment with another person generations beyond him. And everyone always says it's like he plays Benito in the future, right? Generations beyond him, who's proud, who's taking Puerto Rico to the world. And I think you know, that final speech he gave, he said it many times before, a lot of what he said, but the difference was he's sitting there, you can tell he can barely get it out. The man is crying, he has his sunglasses on, he's always a little bit aloof, but you can tell. And he says that he has dreamt of this since he was a kid. He always knew that if you did things with love and care and passion, that they could be achieved. But he says, here I am completing my own dream. And he says, I'm going to be grateful to you for my entire life. Presumably he's speaking to his home and I think that right there it was genuine, it was real and it was what everyone felt. It's like everyone's dreams in that room being completed all at the same time.

[Felix Contreras]

The other thing that was impressive was the scene outside, just tons of people. It was the social place to be, apparently. There were vendors, there was food, there was music, there was all kinds of stuff going on. We saw a Bomba performance, there's tons of stuff, really nice street fair. And in that crowd we met a guy named George Rodriguez. And what impressed me was that he is just a few years younger than I am, but he knew Bad Bunny's deep catalog. Yeah, very deep.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

It echoed some of what I've heard from younger folks where they say everything he makes is Puerto Rican.

[George Rodriguez]

At first it was just another rapper in a sense, for me, but then I start listening to the lyrics and all that, I'm like, oh, I get the message. You got a good message. Let me hear you. I feel you. Yeah, you're right, you're talking about Our people, how our people talk and feel. And that's why, you know, we all agree that it was a good place to be.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Are there any lyrics or songs in particular that come to mind when you.

[George Rodriguez]

Say that Monaco, that's supposed to be somewhere else? You know, it's. Yeah, you hear it. And he talks about all kinds of people. Yeah, he's talking about us, too. When we make it, you know, we get to experience the same thing that the people shunning you because they think you're. You're up there, you know, and that happens here a lot. You know, people get shunned because they made it and the neighbor didn't make it and things like that. That one for me was basically what's happening to me. I work hard. I just retired and all that. I made it, so. But the reason, again, I mention, is because I feel a lot related to that, and it's one of my favorite right now.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

To me, what it really showed is him representing what I feel like is very Puerto Rican about him, which is feeling in between. I've talked about that a lot. And two, that there's a diversity of Puerto Rican experiences. And to be authentic about what your exact experience is, I mean, this man was describing his success and his moving off the island at certain points, that. That has made him feel as though he doesn't fit the Puerto Rican box anymore. And I think what Bad Bunny does is, like, in an instant with this album, how he made it okay to be Nyorican. And this has been, like, since the beginning of time. Puerto Ricans here in Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans in New York, they have this like, oh, well, you're not real. You're not authentic. And in one song, he goes, oh, everyone's Puerto Rican. And everyone goes, oh, okay, yeah, they're Puerto Rican, too. And now there's all this, like, New York and pride and in Puerto Rico. It's crazy, but that's his power, right?

[Felix Contreras]

There were a bunch of baseball caps with the two New York baseball teams, but on the back of each one, it said nueva. Did you notice that? It was pretty cool. Okay, what else is pretty cool is that it's time for us to take a break. It was a bad transition, but we're going to live with it. We'll be right back.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

One of your worst top five bad.

[Felix Contreras]

Yeah, we'll be right back.

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[Ana Maria Sayer]

You know how I know that I'm starting to develop a problem of spending too much time with Felix. I actually think a lot his dad jokes are like kind of funny. I think I've like conditioned myself because it's like, well, you either got to find him funny or you're going to like literally. I guess it's you're hilarious.

[Felix Contreras]

Thank you for that.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

You're welcome.

[Felix Contreras]

Okay, on a serious note, another thing we have to talk about is the economic impact here very quickly.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

It's been a hot, hot issue.

[Felix Contreras]

It just think about how many people have been coming to this show. Each show is sold out, 19,500 people. Majority of people coming from off the island. We're seeing I saw a friend of mine at the bakery at the restaurant Yesterday morning from D.C. they're coming from all over. Lots of friends coming from out of town. I have a brief conversation with someone who's involved with the tourism industry this afternoon because I wanted to know what kind of economic impact that this, the city, the island in general is having. And there are a lot of figures floating around. Of course they're still counting all the, all the income that came in, but it's going to be upwards around $350 million that's been coming into the island over the last three months. And he did say that the tourism rate has been rising, but this boosted it up in the stratosphere. So that the implication is that there's going to be a little long tail after that, there's going to be continued interest in the island.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

And so many people really do reflect that. I mean, you talk to anyone, Uber drivers, people at restaurants, they are talking about a boom in business. They're asking if you're here for the residency. I mean, it really is something that everyone is discussing. I met a man while we were walking in. You had walked away to do, I don't know what, Felix. I was working and I saw this guy.

[Felix Contreras]

Not fair, but go ahead. Juan Gonzalez.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Juan Gonzalez immigrated to Puerto Rico 40 years ago, and he makes ends meet selling flags around the island. Bad Bunny's residency is actually the first time he's found a market for selling flags outside of the venue. Every night of the show, the house lights come up a bit. Bad Bunny pauses and reminds everyone to be proud of wherever they come from. He says, be proud of being from Puerto Rico. And then he goes, wherever you're from, be proud of your tierra. And then the stands light up in a rainbow of flags from all over the world.

[Felix Contreras]

Lost it. Completely lost it.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

You're crying again.

[Felix Contreras]

I lost it it last night.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

So obviously, Gonzalez's business is booming. This summer, he told me he sold flags from.

[Felix Contreras]

Pakistan, Salvadorano, Colombiano, Ecuadoriano, Boliviano.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

He told me he sold to people from everywhere, even as far as Africa. But he told me the flags he sold the most of, in order, have been from.

[George Rodriguez]

Puerto Rico, Mexico y Colombia.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Puerto Rico, Mexico y Colombia. In his 40 years in Puerto Rico, he told me he's never seen so many people from all over the world. His experience living on the island, like many, hasn't always been easy. Up until recently, he told me he'd hit a real financial low. He was at that point, he said, when you're in debt and you just don't know how to get yourself out. And then Bad Bunny decided to set up shop at home, and he and many other vendors saw an opportunity. He claims the economy has gone up by 50 percento. All hotels and restaurants have been full all summer. He said he sells in two months what he normally would sell in a year. The way he describes it, it's been apotheosic, a word I had to look up. It means tremendous Glorious, amazing, spectacular. He says all the vendors are hoping for someone like Bad Bunny to come and do something similar, but he has his doubts. There's no one like Bad Bunny. He told me he brings the.

[Felix Contreras]

The other part of this that we want to unpack is the cultural impact, the musical impact. Because when you came to your first show, when we did a show together in July, and I had all these questions for you, one of the people that you brought onto the show that you talked to was a friend who was actually a pleanera, was learning or.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Performing Plena Erica Rodriguez, like I mentioned last episode, she's one of the women who is really leading the charge in the local plenasing. She goes almost every week, and every time I'm here, I go with her to El Boricua, which is basically like the spot for Plana playing. Remember Emmanuel, who came and played with Benito at the tiny desk?

[Felix Contreras]

Yes.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

He is the guy who leads this whole jam session. So obviously, Felix, you're in town. What are we going to do on a Monday night?

[Felix Contreras]

Go hang out?

[Ana Maria Sayer]

We went to El Bori. Tell me a little bit about where we're standing right now. This is a little bit of a sacred place that you brought me to. Thank you. And now you're bringing Felix, too. Where are we?

[Producer Soraya Muhammad]

So we are in El Boricua. We're in the heart of Rio Piedras, a little block from the University of Puerto Rico, the main campus in Rio Viedras. And this is, I'd say to me, one of the most important stages in San Juan or in Puerto Rico. It's, for me at least, it's a place that I've come a lot and, you know, it's like a sacred space for me because of Plana for the past years, where I gather with my friends and with Pleneros to play music and to sing and to have a beer.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

What does it feel like to you when you gather here with your friends to sing and to play? What is that experience? What does it do for you?

[Producer Soraya Muhammad]

It's like my therapy. I know a lot of people, not everyone, but the people who are in Plana, we've known each other for a long time. So it's like seeing my family, you know, it's like I haven't come since they had the stage here, so for about two months. So I'm like seeing a lot of friends. And that's why I'm like, trying to catch up with my friends that I haven't seen in a while.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

What stage?

[Producer Soraya Muhammad]

The stage that was put up because of the residency. So when the residency of Bad Bunny started, there was an initiative that was called La Vueltita, and they put a main stage, like, I don't know, four feet high or five, right here at the end of the street, and all the presentations were done there. And that changed the dynamic for me, and especially with Plana, it changed the dynamic because also the people that were coming were different. You know, there were a lot of tourists, too, and that changes the dynamic of how you are in the space.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

So we see. Spoke two months ago, towards the beginning of the residency. What are your thoughts on it at this moment right now, now that it's just about ended?

[Producer Soraya Muhammad]

I mean, the thing that I can add, I think, has been the experience of seeing all the tourists that have come. And that has a lot of. I'm not going to say conflicted, just maybe controversial in some way. If I say them out loud. One of the things that has really bothered me, and I do understand where it comes from, but it's like the. Like, seeing all these people using things that are part of iconography of the identity and wearing it as a prop, like one. One of the moments that really hit me was I was driving down Calle Lo Iza and it was like a Saturday, and I saw a. With a pava on, and me suyo, me bajo. I wanted to get out of the car to rip the pava out of her head. Like, the pava, it's this hat made of straw that it's used in the Puerto Rican iconography to represent the peasants of Puerto Rico, of people in the mountains. It really bothered me, and it still bothers me if I see tourists with a pava because it just feels. I don't think people do it out of mockery, but it feels like. Like you don't know the history. You don't understand what's behind that. Like, I feel like there were these things that became part of, like, we're in Altecido en la Residencia that are, like, has become, like, props of the concert for, like, the Puerto Rican whatever experience that do bother me, especially for tourists that are coming from the U.S. you know, like, we're a colonized land, and most people don't know anything about Puerto Rico beyond the Bad Bunny experience or whatever they hear from his music.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

There was a lot of language around this idea of responsible tourism when this residency started. Like, that was something I saw a lot. It's like, we'll come. Tourists are welcome as long as they're responsible. Has it Is that something you can dictate now? Do you feel like now that the residency has happened, people came and left, do you feel like that was, was effective? Is that something people can actually mandate?

[Producer Soraya Muhammad]

How does that look like in colonized land? Honestly, I. I don't. It's like everything when you talk about Puerto Rico, you have to go deeper to really like answer things. And not many people want to get to that because it's politics. It's the relation, political relationship with the United States, the economical relationship with the United States. It's a really complex question, an answer, you know, to like, question to have and in the end, like responsible tourism. I don't know how that looks.

[Felix Contreras]

Okay. All of this stuff does not happen in a vacuum. There is an intense political drama being played out on the island and Bad Bunny's been part of even that conversation. This part also fascinates me. Talk a little bit about that.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

So I've talked about this before, but last November, Puerto Rico hosted some really historic elections. Typically, the politics on the island run based on one issue, and that is the issue of statehood. So you have the status quo party and the pro Statehood party. The best reason I can understand from talking to my Puerto Rican friends that this happens is because people have a fear around distance from the US economic system. Like maybe if they separate from them, the island can't survive on its own. What happened this past November changed everything because the people who are running on social issues, things like fixing the still busted electrical system from Maria and talking about public health infrastructure, they United States with the Independence Party. The people who are asking to actually have Puerto Rico be its own nation, they campaigned on a really exciting, energized, artistically infused campaign where people like Bad Bunny, among many others, like rapper PJ Consuela, who we've had on the show, rallied together to push for this candidate. Now, the candidate did not win. Jennifer Gonzalez, the pro Statehood party candidate, is the current governor. But what happened is crazy because While she got 39% of the vote, the really interesting thing is that AL candidate Juan Dalmao got 33%, effectively turning Puerto Rico into a three party system. It's the type of energy that people obviously were disappointed about, but also really excited about. That was in November. In January, Benito releases this album that very lightly discusses some of these issues. We sat down with my friend Paulina Mendez Cordilles, who is a lawyer on the island, but also a huge Benito fan. She broke it down a little bit more.

[Felix Contreras]

Is Bad Bunny the result of the times that you're in politically, or did he contribute to these times just by a subtle reference to the need for a change?

[Paulina Mendez Cordilles]

What I can say is that I'm grateful that he came in this part of history and that I'm living and sawing all these changes. For sure, he's a result of this generation. Like they say, we're the crisis generation. He's like, he was born two years before I was, and we are known for being a crisis generation. But still, he could have just ignored the political system and the political situation in Puerto Rico, which is what many artists have done. So he didn't necessarily have to do what he's doing. And that's his value for me, like, his value is that he's not ignoring it and he's acknowledging and he's doing all these things to bring it in a subtle way. So for me, that's his value.

[Felix Contreras]

Okay, Anna. Lots of stuff, lots of emotions, lots of facts, lots of figures, lots of reality. Your final thoughts? What does this all mean?

[Ana Maria Sayer]

A lot of things. So last night, Benito gave his speech. It was a closing speech, like I said, where he thanked everyone. But part of the speech, which he goes into debitirama photos with, is he's repeated it every time I've been there. A variant of it where he talks about the importance of enjoying life, enjoying the moment, not living in the past, not living in the future. But he said, this is what the album is about, really. Which is funny because everyone said it's about Puerto Rican pride, it's about Latin American unity, it's about all these things. And the man himself says, this is what this record was about. It's about not living in the past, not living in the future, living in the present, enjoying the present, this frutando la vida, right? And he says, and we have to do it with love. He says the only option is to do it with love, because to do it with hate. Hate only breeds hate. And we have to do it. We have to remember to always love. And that, to me, was like. It was like watching, like you said, you feel like he's giving the concert for you. And I was like, oh, my God. This man just summed up my entire life full. Everything I say every day to everyone, all the time, is this gratitude and this love. And especially right now, Felix, like, especially, like I said, I've been in between Puerto Rico and the US all summer. And the energy feels so distinct, like to be in the United States, to feel how the pesado energy of what's happening and the way that people responding to things and then to come here and to talk to people. I said this the other day to a friend. I said, the thing about Puerto Rico is that there's always an acknowledgement that life is hard. Life never doesn't feel hard. But there's also a very easy other piece of that where people are always disfrutando la vida because they say, ay, que veer, because what are we fighting for if we're not enjoying life? And that, to me, is why it had to be a Puerto Rican artist who did this to, like, heal the world, to make everyone feel as though this is something universal and this is something that had to be heard. It had to be someone who channeled the beliefs of this island, which is. I said. I've said it many times, is based in love, is based in unity, is based in community. And he communicates that so well. And I think that's why everyone's so obsessed. You know, it's their. They fall in love with the island through him, and they don't even know it.

[Felix Contreras]

I thought about that while I was sitting there listening to the show last night, and it struck me exactly what you said. Like, what's going on in the mainland right now is so difficult right now. And the realization that I had is that it's almost unavoidable because we are the only place in the world, pretty much. But people came from different places to be there, going back to when they invaded and took over the people that were already there, and then the centuries later. So there is. There's. They like to say that there's a cohesive, you know, American culture spirit, but it's always been like a mosaic. The best moments is when we're mosaic and we recognize and respect each other's different colors, different pieces, whatever the mosaic is, right? And what I felt at the concert was that we're missing that unifying moment. We're missing that moment of joy to remind ourselves, you know, I can be. You have to live. You have to find that joy in order to deal with the difficult parts. And not everybody agrees with that. Some people, you know, some people say it's a bunch of hippie BSing or whatever, right? But you feel it here. A concert like that last night reminds us that we're all from different things, we're all different pieces of the mosaic. But, you know, when you come together, there's strength in that unity.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

That's what I always think about Puerto Rico, is that it's funny because it actually. I say this A lot. It's a place for people who feel in between. It actually is a place that's split between the mainland, between the indigenous people who are here, the Afro, Puerto Rican community. And to me, it's like it's this really amazing microcosm of the United States in the sense that when I'm here, I feel light. And if I had to describe it, I feel hope because it's like a guide for what we could be like the unity and the good parts of the mainland that we could feel. They do it right here. It's like they show you that to be united and to show care for people and to love people, it is just that easy to love people. And I think that's what I see at that concert is Benito is just putting his island on display. And he's in Benito's universe, which he's sharing with the world. It's just that easy. So as we were putting together this episode, we got some really exciting news. The first being that the show we went to, which we thought was the final show, actually isn't going to be the last show. Of course, in typical Benito fashion, he's pulling out one more show this weekend on September 20th, the 8th anniversary of Hurricane Maria. Now amazing for everyone because it's going to be live streamed. So anyone who is listening to this episode feeling like they really wish they'd been able to be there, you can be. Now, to me, the most exciting part of this news is it answered a question that I've been asking the entire summer. What's next? Bad Bunny's trying to change Puerto Rico. But is anything really going to change when all the dust settles? Well, guess what? Apparently he and Amazon Music had been working on a multi year initiative that they're rolling out with this last show. It's a partnership that is supposed to implement programs that, quote, uplift Puerto Rico's economy and create meaningful change across the island. That means educational programming, disaster relief and cultural empowerment. Every single thing that we have been talking about that we said Bad Bunny was hypothetically trying to support, he's doing in a real concrete way. Obviously, we'll be following along like always. Can't wait to see what he does next.

[Felix Contreras]

You have been listening to Alt Latino this week from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Our audio editor is Noah Caldwell, executive.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Producer of NPR Music is Soraya Muhammad.

[Felix Contreras]

I'm Felix Contreras.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

I'm Ana Maria Sayer.

[Felix Contreras]

Thanks for listening.

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