Bad Bunny, known as Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is a Puerto Rican rapper/singer who has taken the world by storm with his lyrical delivery and flashy style. He can loosely be called a reggaeton and Latin trap artist, but his experimental tendencies promise more surprises in his career.
Bad Bunny first entered the public zeitgeist in 2016 with his single “Diles,” which was responsible for landing him a deal with Hear This Music. Other tracks like “Soy Peor,” as well as collaborations with other big artists like J Balvin, Ozuna, Karol G, and Farruko, helped drive his career forward in the ballistic rise of this young legend.
Bad Bunny’s true breakthrough was in 2018, when he was featured on Cardi B’s track “I Like It” with J Balvin. That same year, he put out a song called “Mia” featuring none other than Drake. His first album, X 100, was pre-released that December and made it to number 11 on the Billboard 200.
Just six months later, Bad Bunny and J Balvin released a collab album called Oasis, which reached number nine on the Billboard Global 200. With eight Latin platinum certifications from the RIAA, Oasis cemented Bad Bunny as a name to watch.
Despite the difficulties of COVID-19, 2020 was a year of extremely prolific output for Bad Bunny. On February 29, 2020, he released his second solo studio album, YHLQMDLG (an acronym for “Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana,” or “I do what I want”). YHLQMDLG surged to number two on the Billboard charts, becoming the highest-charting all-Spanish album of all time.
YHLQMDLG wouldn’t keep that record for long. In November of the same year, Bad Bunny smashed his own record with his third studio album, El Último Tour Del Mundo. This album became the first-ever album recorded all in Spanish to reach the top of the Billboard 200 charts. Between his two 2020 studio albums, Bad Bunny also found time to drop a compilation album, Las Que No Iban A Salir (Spanish for “The Ones That Were Not Coming Out”).
In 2020 and 2021, he was the first non-English-speaking musician to receive the “most-streamed artist of the year” accolade. With recent videos like “Tití me Preguntó” amassing over half a billion views on YouTube, it’s clear why Bad Bunny is credited with giving a boost to Spanish-language music in the English-speaking and worldwide markets.
Bad Bunny hasn’t slowed down since. His fourth studio album, Un Verano Sin Ti, came out in May 2022 and also hit the number one spot in the US.
Speaking of accolades, you can’t ignore the fact that Bad Bunny has already earned two Grammys, four Latin Grammys, 13 Premios lo Nuestro awards, and eight Billboard Music awards. His place in the global music scene can’t be questioned. The only question is: will you manage to catch him in concert while he’s still in this historic early phase of his career?
Bad Bunny tour dates are currently popping up for the remainder of 2022 and 2023, giving you a chance to catch this reggaeton sensation in person.
Courtney Barnett
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