Bad Bunny keeps winning

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Today, Explained

Episode: Bad Bunny keeps winning
Date: February 6, 2026
Host: Vox
Guests: Andra Gonzalez Ramirez (Senior Writer at The Cut), Jarrell Melendez Badillo (Historian, Bad Bunny collaborator)

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Episode Overview

This episode explores Bad Bunny’s historic influence on music, Puerto Rican culture, and politics, centered on his landmark Album of the Year win—the first ever for a Spanish-language album—and his unprecedented 30-show residency in Puerto Rico. The discussion dives into how Bad Bunny (Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio) is making Puerto Rico the center of global music and culture, the emotional resonance his work has for Puerto Ricans and the diaspora, and how art is used as political and social commentary.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Bad Bunny’s Historic Wins and Upcoming Super Bowl Performance

• Bad Bunny made history by winning Album of the Year as a Spanish-language artist.
  • Host: “Last Sunday, he made history by winning Album of the Year, a first for a Spanish language album.” (00:00)
• He is set to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, further elevating his profile.

2. The Residency: A Cultural Phenomenon

• Andra Gonzalez Ramirez shares her personal experience of attending Bad Bunny’s 30-show residency in Puerto Rico.
  • The first 9 shows were exclusively for island residents, with in-person ticket purchases; the remaining 21 were open to broader audiences online.
  • The concerts had festival-like energy, with Puerto Rican culture on full display.
  • Andra: “I went with my husband outside El Choli, which is what we call the arena. This was kind of like a town festival. At Fiesta Patronal, you could get beers, you could get your hair done, you could get your makeup done.” (01:51)

2.1 Concert Stage Design and Setlist

• The show recreated Puerto Rican rural settings and homes (“casita”), highlighting traditional music and dance.
• Set divided into four thematic acts: traditional fusion, acoustic/sad songs, guest appearances, and a salsa finale.
  • Andra: “He plays over 30 something songs from his nearly decade long catalog over three hours. You know, he kind of divided the show in four acts, I would call it.” (05:41)

2.2 Emotional Impact and Diaspora Experience

• Attending the residency was “healing” for many in the diaspora, evoking feelings of grief and pride.
  • Andra: “...there was so much joy. I could not stop crying because I think that as someone who left Puerto Rico, it just felt like a level of grief that we carry a lot...” (08:07)

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3. Significance of the Residency for Puerto Rican Identity

• The residency is viewed as both an artistic and political statement.
  • Bad Bunny chose to keep the residency in Puerto Rico, resisting the typical path of international or U.S. “crossover.”
  • Andra: “It’s a declaration... you don’t have to compromise or change your art or attempt to cross over to appeal to an English speaking audience. Instead, you can just bring everyone to your home and show them what Puerto Rico is about.” (10:16)

3.1 Generational Resonance

• The show resonates especially with Millennials and Gen Z, called the “crisis generation,” marked by emigration, financial crisis, and natural disasters.
  • Andra: “A lot of experts call us the crisis generation. We’ve lived through political changes, financial crisis, climate disasters. A lot of us like me have left.” (11:29)

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4. Bad Bunny’s Collaboration with Puerto Rican Historians

• Jarrell Melendez Badillo worked with Bad Bunny’s team to ensure the album and residency incorporated Puerto Rican history.
  • Each song’s “visualizer” (YouTube video) told stories ranging from pre-Columbian history to modern politics.
  • Jarrell: “...each one of the 17 songs in the record has a historical narrative that goes all the way from pre Columbian history to the current political and social movement in Puerto Rico.” (16:56)

4.1 Highlighting Underrepresented History

• Jarrell wrote 40 historical texts for visuals and the residency, featuring punk bands, boxing legend Tito Trinidad, and the 2004 Olympic basketball upset.
  • Jarrell: “...an opportunity for me to highlight certain things that don’t usually get mentioned in Puerto Rican history.” (17:53)

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5. Political and Social Contexts in Bad Bunny’s Art

• The album and shows are deeply political, blending Afro-Caribbean genres (bomba, plena, salsa) to tell a uniquely Puerto Rican story.
• Bad Bunny’s work draws attention to Puerto Rico’s colonial reality and the ongoing fiscal/political crisis.
  • Jarrell: “...he’s using his platform to highlight the colonial dimension of Puerto Rico to the United States... we cannot elect the president of the United States, and second, that we cannot elect the people in this highly unpopular fiscal oversight board.” (21:27)
• Songs like "La Mudanza" and "Lo Que Le Pasoa Hawaii" explicitly reference colonial struggle and resistance.

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6. Community and Political Impact

• Bad Bunny has inspired a new generation to be more politically engaged, even supporting pro-independence movements.
  • Jarrell: “...the only thing that this generation knows is crisis. And I think that that generation is becoming politicized even more and more. In the last election cycle... the pro Independence Party got to second place, a party that was supported by Benito publicly.” (24:13)
• The connection to Bad Bunny is intimate; locals refer to him by his given name, Benito, as a sign of affection and solidarity.
  • Jarrell: “Yeah, Benito. I think it’s a term of endearment... When we go to that residency... it feels as we’re celebrating ourselves.” (25:41)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Andra Gonzalez Ramirez on the concert experience:
  “I cried, I danced, I laughed. I was very sweaty by the end of it, you know, it was, it was so much fun.” (05:07)

• Jarrell Melendez Badillo on getting the call from Bad Bunny's team:
  “My heart dropped, as you can imagine... Five minutes after we were on the phone and they were telling me that Benito was gonna drop a new record in a few weeks.” (15:42)

• Jarrell Melendez Badillo on what Bad Bunny means for Puerto Rico politically:
  “We needed an artist in the mainstream to amplify the conversations that are happening around colonialism, displacement and crisis in Puerto Rico.” (24:54)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–01:18: Bad Bunny’s historic Album of the Year win & Super Bowl announcement
• 01:51–09:48: Andra Gonzalez Ramirez on attending the residency, staging, atmosphere, emotional experience
• 10:02–12:14: Cultural and political significance of the residency for Puerto Rico
• 15:22–18:28: Jarrell Melendez Badillo on collaborating with Bad Bunny; building the album’s historical context
• 19:17–21:27: Exploring the political “soundscape” and Bad Bunny using his platform for Puerto Rican issues
• 21:27–24:54: Discussing Puerto Rico’s colonial reality, political crisis, and relevance of the residency for activism
• 25:26–26:13: “Benito” as a term of endearment and shared identity

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Conclusion

Through rich personal anecdotes and thoughtful analysis, this episode demonstrates how Bad Bunny has become a transformative figure, not just in music but as a cultural and political touchstone for Puerto Rico. By centering Puerto Rican identity at the heart of his international stardom, Bad Bunny creates space for joy, grief, pride, and empowerment—and shows how music can become a vehicle for historical memory and change.

Transcript

[Host]

It's been a huge week for Bad Bunny. Last Sunday, he made history by winning Album of the Year, a first for a Spanish language album.

I want to dedicate this award to.

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

All the people that had to leave.

[Andra Gonzalez Ramirez]

Their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams.

[Host]

This Sunday, he'll be performing at the super bowl halftime show.

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

The only thing I felt that was missing was I was like, man, if this guy could perform some of that. No, I know you can't. Contractually, I know you can't because it's the Super Bowl.

[Host]

You might be your first chance to see Bad Bunny perform this album. That is, unless you were one of the lucky few who got to see him perform in Puerto Rico last summer. He spent the summer doing a 30 show residency celebrating the island and Puerto Rican identity and history. So to help you prepare for this weekend's show, we wanted to bring back an episode from last summer, how Bad Bunny Made Puerto Rico the Center of the universe. Coming up on Today explained from Vox.

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

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[Andra Gonzalez Ramirez]

Estana escul a hoy explicado. You're listening to TODAY Explained. My name is Andra Gonzalez Ramirez. I'm a senior writer at the Cut and I grew up in Puerto Rico. I would say it's like one of the biggest cultural events that we've seen, I think, in the island. Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, for those who would like his legal name too, is holding a 30 show residency in Puerto Rico pegged to his most recent album, Davidir Almas Photos. The first nine shows were open only to residents of Puerto Rico. You had to go in person to purchase tickets at different selling points across the island. And then from August 1st onwards. So like the next 21 shows, those you could Purchase the tickets online, which is how I was able to do it. The experience of trying to get tickets for it. Now I understand how Taylor Swift fans felt during the ERAS tour because that morning I did not get a code and I went through the five stages of grief before I actually got one to get tickets. Right. But once we got there, I went with my husband outside El Choli, which is what we call the arena. This was kind of like a town festival. At Fiesta Padronal, you could get beers, you could get your hair done, you could get your makeup done. And once you come in, obviously the arena holds about like 18,000 people. So it's a lot of people and the energy is unhinged. I think like everyone's really excited to be there. There's a screen Puerto projection where they're like showing like Puerto Rican facts. Like Puerto Rico is a US colony. Salsa was invented between Puerto Rico and New York. There's two main areas where he performs. In the main stage, he kind of recreated rural Puerto Rico. And then the second stage is a pink casita that resembles a lot of homes in Puerto Rico. And that's where like the really filthy perreo happens. Like that area is reserved for the songs that you would probably not play to your parents because they're so, so filthy. I was pretty high up. I was in the last, literally the very last row of the top section. Closer to God than Bad Bunny, but you can see everything. And yeah, like it's really incredible because like a lot of people are wearing traditional clothing like Pawas or rivara dresses. I was wearing a Roberto Clemente jersey. And then when the music starts, like basically you get a musical arrangement of his newest song, Alambre Bua, that sounds a lot like Bomba and Plana, which are two traditional Puerto Rican music genres. And then he comes in with a bunch of like dancers in traditional garbs. And it just, you know, everyone went a little bit crazy when he was on stage. But it really looks like you are transported back in time to a puerto Rico from 100 years ago. But also kind of like what a school performance would look if you celebrated Puerto Rican week. Like La Zamara de la Puerto de Quenida at school, right? It was insane. I cried, I danced, I laughed. I was very sweaty by the end of it, you know, it was, it was so much fun. He plays over 30 something songs from his nearly decade long catalog over three hours. You know, he kind of divided the show in four acts, I would call it. You have that first couple of songs where he's kind of marrying his modern music with some of this traditional musical arrangements. And then you have, like, a second section with. It's almost like an acoustic set. And that was kind of like the Sad Bunny came out where he's just, like, singing a bunch of his most popular songs about heartbreak. After that, usually, like, you have a VIP guest or someone from the audience say one of the phrases from one of his new songs, and you have someone saying, like, acho pere otracosa. Like, Puerto Rico is something else. And in that section that's. Usually you have, like, the musical guest, and then the last section is kind of like his salsa portion of the evening. He's dressed very much like Hector labo in the 1970s and has, like, a. A live band of, like, 20 people up there, and it's, like, incredibly fun. His last two songs are the lead song of the album and then La Munza, and during. Talking about, like, oh, I don't want my people to move. And it's like a really. It's like a really moving song. You had, like, people hugging all over and, like, you know, singing with their families. Like, there was so much joy. I could not stop crying because I think that as someone who. Who left Puerto Rico, it just felt like a level of grief that we carry a lot. If you are in the diaspora and then being there feeling so at home, I was just like, this is the best thing. And also, I'm so incredibly sad right now. And I cried throughout the entire song. And then he wraps up with La Mudanza, and I was still crying throughout. He is saying, like, no one's gonna take me out of here. Like, it's a very. It's like a. It's a very fun song. It's. But it's also. I think, as the closer in the album and the closer in the. In the show, there's, like, a level of defiance and, like, pride that comes with that song, and it's very emotional. And I think that once my husband and I walked out, we're coming down the nose leads. You had, like, people chanting yo soy boricua. Like, I'm Puerto Rican. Just so you know. Just felt very lovely and empowering to be surrounded by so many of us. And I don't know, I think there was, like, this sense of community that was, like, very beautiful and also very fun, and it kind of, like, healed me, whatever, like, trigger. I had had two songs prior. Definitely. When we walked out, I was like, oh, I kind of love this a lot.

[Host]

What does it mean to have one of the biggest artists in the world do an exclusive residency on an island. What's the population of Puerto Rico? I don't even know. Is it like fewer than 5 million people?

[Andra Gonzalez Ramirez]

Yeah, it's like 3 million people at this point. Like there's 5 million Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. like stateside. It's like a smaller population than many, many states.

[Host]

Right. What does that mean for the.

[Andra Gonzalez Ramirez]

It's a declaration he's making, right. That you can be the biggest artist in the world or one of the biggest artists in the world and you don't have to compromise or change your art or attempt to cross over to appeal to an English speaking audience. And instead you can just bring everyone to your home and show them what Puerto Rico is about. It's an incredible economic influx, but I think it's also like a political statement. In a way. We are an American colony. He very intentionally said that he was not gonna tour in the US and instead he was gonna do a global tour elsewhere after the residency. Right. So I think it's just like demonstrating his love for Puerto Rico and reminding us that it doesn't matter if we're a tiny island of 3.5 million people or so, that you can do like, really impressive art in there too. The concert itself is a love letter to Puerto Rico. I think it's also a love letter to our generation of boricuas, people who, like me, are millennials or Gen Z and who grew up in like, a very different island from our parents. A lot of experts call us the crisis generation. We've lived through political changes, financial crisis, climate disasters. A lot of us like me have left. So yeah, I think that the show itself was like a celebration of who we are and also a way to give people hope that you don't need to leave the island to pursue your dreams or. Or to work for a better Puerto Rico.

[Host]

Andrea Gonzalez Ramirez's piece in the Cut that inspired us is called Letting Go of My Diaspora Grief at the Bad Bunny residency. You can read and support her [e-mail] we're gonna hear what exactly Bad Bunny's trying to do in Puerto Rico from a guy who helped him do it. When we return on Today Explained.

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[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

Foreign.

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[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

My name is Benido, and.

[Andra Gonzalez Ramirez]

I'm very.

[Host]

Excited to be here on Today, explains Sean Ramis, firm here with Jorrel Melendez Badillo, author of Puerto Rico A National History, and he's a Bad Bunny collaborator.

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

Last December, I was on vacation with my family in Portugal. I had left my computer behind, and I was contacted via Instagram message from someone in Benito's team saying that they were working with Bad Bunny and they were interested in knowing if I was interested in having a conversation about a potential collaboration with Benito. My heart dropped, as you can imagine. They sent an NDA, an undisclosure agreement.

[Host]

But wait, you had to say no because you're on vacation with your family in Portugal, Right?

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

Exactly. Yeah. No, but my family understood. They're all Bad Bunny fans. We also have an altar, a shrine for Bad Bunny in our house.

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[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

And so I had to say yes. Five minutes after we were on the phone and they were telling me that Benito was gonna drop a new record in a few weeks. They talked about the sensibilities of the record, how it was an homage to Puerto Rican culture, how history was gonna be central to the album's narrative. And so they were interested in incorporating Puerto Rican history into the visualizers. So visualizers are the ways that artists monetize in YouTube. And so each one of the 17 songs in the record has a historical narrative that goes all the way from pre Columbian history to the current political and social movement in Puerto Rico. Wow. Yes.

[Host]

Tell us about this history.

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

Yeah, absolutely. So Benito wanted for me to write about the general history of Puerto Rico, but he was also very adamant that there were certain things that he wanted to include, like, for example, the history of surveillance and repression in Puerto rico Throughout the 20th century, the history of colonial governance in Puerto Rico, the history of La Plaina Mbomba, which are two Afro Caribbean rhythms, and how it influenced reggaeton. In addition to the Visualizer videos, I also collaborated with Benito in the residency in Puerto Rico. The team wanted me to ride about 40 historical texts of Puerto Rican history and Puerto Rican culture itself. So it was an opportunity for me to highlight certain things that don't usually get mentioned in Puerto Rican history. Punk bands, Tito Trinidad, our boxer, and.

[Host]

The record For Felix Tito Trinidad, well.

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

Known to most boxing followers, our basketball team and how they beat the US Dream Team in Athens in 2004.

[Andra Gonzalez Ramirez]

Yeah, they were called the Dream Team, but now some people are calling them the Cream Team.

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

Talks about in one of his songs. So for me, it was also mind blowing to see my work not only in Benito's Visualizers, but also to be part of the residency in Puerto Rico, which is a historic residency.

[Host]

When this album came out, I remember streaming it all weekend, that first weekend and. And feeling like, oh, wow, this is like, incredible, comprehensive survey of, like, the history of Puerto Rican music. You can just tell that from all the genres that are incorporated into the album. But I know nothing, zero about the history of Puerto Rican music. How did it feel to someone like you who's, like, dedicated their life to this?

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

You know, I became an academic and a scholar, the first in my family, because I wanted to take these knowledges out of the ivory tower of academia. I wanted to democratize access to our history, to knowledge. And so it was mind blowing to when the record came out January 5th at noon, just to put the YouTube visualizers and see Puerto Rican history accompanying these sounds. The record is very political, even in the soundscape that it creates. Mixing plana, salsa, all these sort of Caribbean rhythms. It was mind blowing. You know, Benito did not have to do this. He could have kept talking about expensive cars, you know, his life in Monaco.

[Host]

Flying in private jets, dating a Jenner.

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

Dating a Jenner. That was a. Yeah, that was a tragic moment in his career. A lot of in Puerto Rico, you know, Benito's like that primo, that cousin that made it. And, you know, cousins sometimes do things that you do not agree with, but you still love him. And he spent time in L. A, but then he came back to Puerto Rico. And I think he's also. There's something about being, you know, in diaspora, in exile, about connecting with your roots and your identities. And I think that this record is sort of an exploration into what it means for him to be Puerto Rican. And here you have arguably the. Or empirically the biggest star in the world. You know, move to the side Taylor Swift or Queen Bee, be Beyonce. You have the biggest star in the world using his platform to amplify Puerto Rican history and Puerto Rican culture.

[Host]

I'm glad you brought up the world, because after Bad Bunny finishes his stint in San Juan, he's taking this show on the road, and he is one of the most streamed artists in the world. Like, top five. Typically, he's been number one before. What do you think he wanted the world to learn about Puerto Rico by putting out this album?

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

So, in a sense, I think that Bat Bunny wanted his listeners to understand the colonial reality of Puerto Rico. You know, when we think about Puerto Rico, it's always joy, it's beaches, it's tropical paradise. But there's other realities, right? And Benito is, I think, using his platform to highlight the colonial dimension of Puerto Rico to the United States. You know, Puerto Rico has been undergoing a fiscal and political crisis since two. And it has exacerbated throughout the last two decades, particularly after 2015, when the US federal government, in a bipartisan bill, it was a bill created by Republicans and signed by President Obama, created a fiscal oversight board of unelected members that have more power than the executive and legislative branches in Puerto Rico. And President Trump fired five of the members of this board, which triggers a conversation about the colonial relationship of Puerto Rico. That first, we cannot elect the president of the United States, and second, that we cannot elect the people in this highly unpopular fiscal oversight board. And so, in a sense, I think that Benito's record songs like La Mudanza or Lo Que Le Pasoa Hawaii are songs that are talking about the colonial reality that Puerto Ricans are living through. But if we look also at La Mulanza, the music video, Benito's also highlighting the resistance to that colonial situation. How Puerto Ricans have never stood to the side. Puerto Ricans have never been docile, but Puerto Ricans have always dared to imagine themselves as something beyond their colonial rulers. And I think that that is very clear in the record. And it's part of the conversations that have been triggered by the residency, by the record, and also by the aesthetic project that these two bring together.

[Host]

Do people in Puerto Rico look to Bad Bunny to actually affect change? Or are they happy enough with what he's done, which is put them on the map in a way that they weren't on it before, or constantly bringing himself and his music and his message back to the island?

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

Absolutely. I think that everyone in Puerto Rico is in love with Bad Bunny at the moment. Even my grandmother, he used to say that he was mala blao. You know, he was always swearing, disliked him. Now she sings his songs. And I think that people are happy. But I think that more importantly, there is a generation that has been coined as the crisis generation, which Benito is part of that generation, that the only thing that they know is crisis. Those kids that were born in the late 90s, early 2000s, they went through the fiscal crisis that began in 2006, austerity measures, the implementation of a undemocratic fiscal oversight board by the US government in 2015, school Hurricane Maria. We had an earthquake swarm. We lose power on an almost daily basis, corruption, et cetera. So the only thing that this generation knows is crisis. And I think that that generation is becoming politicized even more and more. In the last election cycle, it was the first time in Puerto Rico's modern history since the 40s and 50s that the pro Independence Party got to second place, a party that was supported by Benito publicly. And Benito was there at the closing of their closing event. So people are happy, people love Benito. But also I think that Benito represents a generation that feels disenfranchised and that is becoming more politicized. And so I think we needed an artist in the mainstream to amplify the conversations that are happening around colonialism, displacement and crisis in Puerto Rico.

[Host]

One last question before we go. Both you and our previous guest, both Puerto Ricans, refer to Bad Bunny, the artist known as Bad Bunny, as Benito. Does everyone just call him Benito on the island?

[Jarrell Melendez Badillo]

Yeah, Benito. I think it's a term of endearment, Benito. You know, you dated a Jenner. We still love you. When we go to that residency and we're or when we've been in the residency, we're not only celebrating Benito, but it feels as we're celebrating ourselves. And so that's why we are so happy to see him succeed. And so, yeah, I think it's a term of endearment, Benito.

[Host]

Jarrell Melendez Badillo is an associate professor of Latin American and Caribbean history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Abhishai Artsy produced today's show. Amina Al Saadi edited, Laura Bullard, checked the Facts and Patrick Boyd was on the Ones and Twos. We didn't today, but we typically use music by Breakmaster. Cylinder Today Explained is distributed by wnyc. The show is a part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. You can and should check out our other shows at Podcasts. And if you want to listen to this show ad free, you can sign up for [e-mail] members. Think about it.