How many Bad Bunny fans? in fact do you understand what he is saying? The Grammy-winning Puerto Rican rapper, who performs exclusively in Spanish, is currently the most streamed artist in the world. World tour promoting his sixth studio album NEED TO TAKE MORE PICTURES (2025) has been consistently sold out. But it’s unlikely that every one of those fans speaks Spanish or follows the rushed, s-dropped delivery of the Boricua accent; you it happens like you and last night (June 28), London became London.
The match of the tournament in London was played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A screen brought out a couple calling the artist on stage using the spoken word opener of “LA MuDanza,” the closing track on Bad Bunny’s latest album, a political statement about the Puerto Rican independence movement. Those who could join – my line, for the most part, did not.
Bad Bunny, whose name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, emerged from a trap door in a beige summer suit with gold aviator sunglasses, shouting “Benito”. The fans were overwhelmed by strong sauce drum and trumpet. The concert turned into a party.
Each song of the 31-song setlist transported the audience further away from London and closer to the sweltering heat of Puerto Rico. Fans rocked fake camellias of different shades in their hair, bunny ears and turkeys – the straw hats associated with the left-wing People’s Democratic Party – crashing into the sea of bodies. The drums echo through the concrete, down to your feet and up to your chest.
The rapper went through his discography, moving from the main stage to the pink bungalow casita – the diminutive form of the house, favored by the artist – on the opposite side of the stadium, equipped with its own air conditioning unit and the characteristic Venetian blinds on the outside of the windows.
Everyone was dancing: the couple to my left lost in the tactile movements of the Bachata; the young women to my right filmed each other rolling their hips in figure eights. Once the romantic notes of the EDM anthem “Monaco” from his album Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow (2023) filled the stadium, the crowd erupted. The calls grew louder, the movements wilder. Unwittingly, I found myself in a peculiar Newton’s cradle of bumping hips.
Bad Bunny’s music conveys more than words ever could. Lyrically, the songs are no different from others in the Latin trap and reggaeton genres. The tracks consist of three main things: women, sex and parties. But there is something about musical composition that moves people and connects them regardless of the language barrier. It’s impossible not to get caught up in the moment and start swaying to the beat. One of the girls to my right barely spoke English, yet she managed to make friends with two other girls along the line who in turn didn’t know a word of Spanish. I saw Instagram handles exchanged and dance videos.
Bad Bunny is a symbol of unity. Although his music pays homage to his Puerto Rican heritage, there is a universality to it that touches millions of people. In the crowd, various flags waved as fans jumped up and down: Puerto Rican, Ecuadorian, Brazilian, Indian. Each of them was projected onto screens as cameras panned over the audience. Bad Bunny’s anti-Ice speech at the Grammys and viral performance at the Super Bowl earlier this year broadcast his inclusive politics globally. His non-Spanish speaking fans don’t need to understand his lyrics to appreciate what he’s about.
“As long as one is alive, one should love as much as possible“, he shouted to the crowd in the final throes of the concert. As long as one has to love as much as one can. Who can argue with that?
(Further reading: The shame of the Frida Kahlo industry)
