Bad Bunny: The Latin American Artist Taking the World by Storm

Rare are the public figures, in all fields, who manage to make the cover of the American weekly Time. And it’s even more unusual that this one is in a language other than English and that it is devoted to a star of a Latin musical genre. Bad Bunny has yet taken up the challenge: his photo appears on the cover of the edition [du 10 avril] of this magazine aimed at the Anglo-Saxon public. Two months earlier, the Puerto Rican artist appeared at the Grammy Awards opening show.

Bad Bunny, “Bad Bunny”, has been the most streamed Latin American artist on Spotify for three consecutive years. And it was by singing in Spanish, especially reggaeton, that he achieved this feat.

Since its appearance more than two decades ago, this urban musical style has been the target of many critics. There are in particular those who affirm that it constitutes a bad example for the new generations. However, gender is increasingly influencing various social issues, such as gender roles or politics. Moreover, his popularity – and that of several Latin artists – is growing undeniably in other latitudes.

A real craze for Latin rhythms

Latin America is losing its economic and political weight on the world stage, of course, but on the cultural scene, it is on the way to conquering the planet. This could also offer its inhabitants a golden opportunity to get the rest of the world talking about certain issues that concern them.

Barely six years ago, Bad Bunny, or Benito Antonio Ocasio Martínez of his real name, began his career. A few years later, Madonna, the queen of pop, recorded remixes with two singers of urban music: the Brazilian Annita, in 2019, and the Dominican Tokischa, in 2022. Today, Bad Bunny and Madonna are just a few examples of a real craze for Latin American rhythms.

Marco Antonio Chávez-Aguayo, researcher at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, explains that in the 20^e century, with the emergence of industry, recordings and other rhythms, “the focus has shifted from Europe to the United States, and [que] American products like pop, rap and hip-hop began to take hold”. In his opinion, the center is now in Latin America, although the researcher admits that it may be too early to tell.

In 2020, Víctor Lenore, a specialized Spanish journalist, wrote that Bad Bunny was the new Bob Dylan. He now asserts that Latin American popular culture is increasingly influential in the United States and the rest of the world: “In Spain, for example, we have this colonial prejudice, almost unconscious, which makes us believe that what is done