Transcript
Host (0:00)
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.
Host (0:09)
I want to dedicate this award to.
Jarrell Melendez Badillo (0:11)
All the people that had to leave.
Andra Gonzalez Ramirez (0:13)
Their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams.
Host (0:18)
This Sunday, he'll be performing at the super bowl halftime show.
Jarrell Melendez Badillo (0:21)
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 (0:31)
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 (0:59)
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Andra Gonzalez Ramirez (1:51)
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.