09 Jan It’s Official: Bye, Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny was the top artist in Mitzi Pérez-Caro’s (center) Spotify Wrapped in 2023, He won’t be this year. (Screenshot captured by Mitzi Pérez-Caro / The CC Pulse)

Commentary, Mitzi Pérez-Caro

My Spotify Wrapped put me in the top 0.5% of Bad Bunny’s listeners worldwide in 2023. But after his new album, “Nadie Sabe lo Que va Pasar Mañana,” which was released Oct. 13 — two days before my birthday — I know I won’t be there this year.

That’s because he insulted Mexicans — my people — and other areas of Latin culture in his new music.

When Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, or Bad Bunny, first released singles in 2018, I was not the biggest fan. His lyrics were repetitive, vulgar and monotone. However the more I listened to it, the more I enjoyed it. Bad Bunny was able to merge my love of American trap music with the fluidity and romance of Spanish in a way that no artist had done before. 

And there is nothing wrong with the beats that he introduced in 2023. I, however, don’t trust artists that dismiss or bully other artists. Latin artists should support and uplift one another.

Bad Bunny has done the opposite, and artists today have gotten canceled for less.

His song “Telefono Nuevo” contains lyrics that, in English, mean, “It’s 2024, who the hell uses Psycho Bunny? This is not The Simpsons, you’re not Gordo Tony Y’all are ‘puppets’ Y’all have a yacht to pee in the corner.” He was dissing Mexican American band Fuerza Regida. 

I didn’t catch the undertones of these lyrics when I first heard it. I wouldn’t be upset by this but a TikToker, Felix Martinez, made a video on this inspecting these short couple of verses. He said Bad Bunny was not only speaking about Fuerza Regida but the entire Mexican region in his insults. Bad Bunny insults the way a region dresses, gives false impressions, and calls us mindless puppets — that hurts to the core.

Bad Bunny’s insult of Fuerza Regida hit me personally, as a Mexican American. Although Martinez said he might be reaching with his interpretation of Bad Bunny’s lyrics, his analysis resonated with me. I am not a puppet. I do not pee in the corner. My style is not out of touch. Many of my Mexican friends agree that these lyrics are insulting and not hitting the right vibe.

Bad Bunny was nominated alongside Grupo Frontera for regional Mexican song of the year at the Billboard Latin Music Awards for “Un x100to.” After the verses in “Telefono Nuevo,” I am extremely happy they did not win the award, no matter how much I loved “Un x100to.” 

Bad Bunny has also insulted a fellow Puerto Rican artist in J Balvin, and he stretched out a middle finger to Colombians in “Vuelve Candy B.” In one part, translated to English, he says, “Hey, I come from Puerto Rico, where the real ‘bichotas’ come from / Funny thing, those that say they’re from the streets are the snitches.” Colombian artist Karol G coined the term ‘bichota,’ meaning badass b—. 

My theory is that his anger stems from fans wanting something different than trap from Bad Bunny. An AI song reproducing Bad Bunny’s voice by TikToker @flowGPTmusic went viral. It was not what Bad Bunny intended for his new album. 

He made that very clear to his fans, saying, “si a ustedes les gusta esa m!#&^@ de canción que está viral en tiktok salgansen de etse grupo ahora mismo. Ustedes no mercen ser mis amigos y por eso mismo hice el nuevo disco, pa desaserme de gente así. Asi que chu chu fueraa.” That means “If y’all like that viral crap TikTok song, get out of this WhatApp group chat. Y’all don’t deserve to be my friends, and that’s why I made this new album to get rid of y’all. In that case bye, get out.

Maybe Bad Bunny needs more co-writers in his album like before. “Un Verano Sin Ti” was incredible in my opinion and there were also nearly 20 writers in those songs while in “Nadie Sabe lo Que va Pasar Mañana” it was only a couple.

I have never been this heartbroken by an artist. I blame the #KardashianCurse. (Bad Bunny dated Kendall Jenner.) It seems when any famous celebrity dates one of the Kardashian or Jenner sisters, they end up not doing so well. Look at Kanye West, Reggie Bush, Lamar Odom, Travis Scott even. 

My hope was that Bad Bunny would apologize to his Mexican fan base by the end of 2023. That didn’t happen. As it stands now, he at least lost one extremely loyal fan. I mourn my concert T-shirts, croc charms, beanie, and accessories. An unfollow on social media and WhatsApp removal will come shortly after. So here is to the good and past times. Bye, Bad Bunny.