Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, also known as rapper and singer Bad Bunny, has blessed our eyes and ears yet again with his most recent Tiny Desk Concert with NPR.
The concert premiered on YouTube on April 7 and immediately had fans watching and singing along. In over 24 hours, it’s already accumulated over 3.2M views. I’m one of the biggest Bad Bunny fans and immediately knew that his performance was going to stand apart from any other Tiny Desk Concert I’ve seen — and I was right!
Bad Bunny has become so influential and inspiring for many because of his unwavering love and devotion for Puerto Rico. He’s set a stage to uplift the country’s stories and culture through his music and by repping his “barrio” (neighborhood) and “isla” (island). He’s made his culture a worldwide sensation.
With this being said, Bad Bunny’s Tiny Desk Concert was an ode to Puerto Rico and Latinx culture. He made sure to represent his roots and be explicitly himself, creating a space for vulnerability, tradition, and joy. His music reaches audiences around the world as he focuses on representing Puerto Rico and the traditions of musical genius that were born on the island he calls home.
Recap of the Tiny Desk Concert
The concert was around 33 minutes long and featured six of Bad Bunny’s songs from his most recent album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, which is dedicated to the culture, history, and beauty of Puerto Rico. The album covers topics such as gentrification, economic crises, racism, and even classism within the country. Along with the concert, it serves as a cultural marker and a reminder that Puerto Rico isn’t going anywhere.
What sets the album apart is its complexity and attention to detail. From the inclusion of “El Jíbaro” to Puerto Rico’s native “Coqui,” Bad Bunny made sure that everyone knew the album was made by and for Puerto Ricans. Furthermore, his performance at the iconic Coliseo de Puerto Rico (“el choli”) with nine shows reserved exclusively for residents of Puerto Rico, as well as his short film that visualizes the Puerto Rican experience, shows that he’s made sure to cover all of his bases.
Bad Bunny’s Tiny Desk Concert set list consisted of both reggaeton and salsa music, highlighting his duality and the importance of both music genres. “PIToRRO DE COCO,” “VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR,” “KLOuFRENS,” and many other songs were featured.
A Love Letter to Puerto Rico
At a time when Puerto Rico is still battling for true self-determination and facing the fallout from colonial policies, economic instability, and climate disasters, Bad Bunny’s showing up and showing out on stages such as NPR’s is political. He’s not just an artist but an act of cultural preservation.
In a space like NPR’s Tiny Desk — usually reserved for indie darlings and American classics — seeing a global Puerto Rican superstar sing fully in Spanish, backed by Caribbean rhythms and musical arrangements and musicians of color, is powerful. It’s not just inclusion. It’s centering.
The entire performance felt like a love letter to Puerto Rico. The songs were played with an acoustic band, highlighting the sounds from Bad Bunny’s home country. He’s never shied away from representing his roots, and the concert was no exception.
From the very first notes, you hear it: jazz-infused arrangements with Latin percussion underneath. The combination isn’t random, it’s a subtle fusion of global musical traditions.
When it comes to Puerto Rico’s music traditions, “Bomba” and “Plena” are two of the oldest and most culturally significant musical styles, both with African origins. Bomba is built around call-and-response, hand drums, and dance, and was historically used as a form of resistance by enslaved Africans on the island. Plena is more melodic and is often used to tell stories about daily life, politics, and community news. It’s kind of a “musical newspaper.”
During Bad Bunny’s Tiny Desk Concert, those rhythms aren’t overt, but they pulse under the surface, especially in the percussion and the syncopated way the horns wrap around his vocals. It’s not traditional Bomba or Plena, but a modern homage woven into a new, universal sound.
Bad Bunny’s Cultural Pride
Within each song played during the concert came a story that isn’t foreign to many. It was powerful to watch Bad Bunny refrain from code-switching. He didn’t explain his lyrics. He didn’t alter his style. He just was. The authenticity was everything.
For many young Latinos and Latinas, first-generation students, and diasporic kids trying to hold onto their cultural identities, Bad Bunny’s performance was validation that you don’t have to assimilate to belong. Your culture is worthy as is.
As a Costa Rican American and proud daughter of an immigrant mother, I found myself getting emotional hearing Bad Bunny’s acoustic version of “LO QUE LE PASO A HAWAii,” a song that captures the story of what it means to be an immigrant from a Latin American country, and the effects of tourism on Latin American countries.
In a moment when immigrant communities, particularly Latinx and Caribbean populations, are navigating an increasingly fraught political landscape, Bad Bunny’s Tiny Desk Concert feels like more than just a performance. It feels like a safe space, cultural affirmation, and a subtle act of resistance. He’s not only repping his talent but also the authenticity, culture, creativity, and complexity of being Latino or Latina, as well as Puerto Rican.
While the concert might be cozy and low-key on the surface, it’s layered in this political moment. It’s about visibility, cultural pride, and resistance through softness. It tells those watching that they matter, their music matters, and their stories are worth hearing–in their language and on their terms.
Bad Bunny’s Tiny Desk Concert with NPR and recent album have reignited the conversations surrounding gentrification and political instability within Latin American countries while simultaneously celebrating a beautiful culture rooted in music, tradition, joy, and more. It serves as a global reminder that the celebration of different cultures is important.
I’m forever grateful to Bad Bunny for strengthening the heartbeat of the cultura latina, as well as reminding me to be unapologetically myself and never forget my roots or the beautiful country I call “home.”
“No, no suelte’ la bandera ni olvide’ el lelolai.”
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