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... Bad Bunny, 31, whose full name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, was born and raised in Puerto Rico. His first album, "X 100PRE" (pronounced "por siempre" meaning "forever"), came out in 2018. His songs blend Latin trap and reggaeton with pop, rock and classic Puerto Rican styles including salsa, bomba and plena. Since his debut, he has skyrocketed to global stardom, dominating charts and obliterating streaming records. ...
Historically, Latin artists have sung in English as a way to increase their audience. Artists like Shakira and Ricky Martin began recording in Spanish and later turned to English.
Before music went online, one had to navigate record stores. "You had to go find the Latin section, which was teeny, teeny, teeny, tiny," said Leila Cobo, a chief content officer at Billboard.
"That's why people were recording in English, you know, so that they could get into the main sections," she said.
Even more recent popular Spanish-language songs such as "Gasolina" and "Despacito" brought in U.S. sounds and artists, Diaz said. "Despacito' also had a remix with Justin Bieber and was a very different kind of sound. It was very pop-ified " not like Bad Bunny's music."
Bad Bunny took a different route to success on the U.S. pop charts. He does "not conform to what it means to be seen as palatable to a white American mainstream audience," Diaz said.
Diaz said Bad Bunny's connection to his cultural heritage resonates with fans, even though many come from different backgrounds. In his most recent album, "DeB TiRAR MS FOToS" (I should have taken more photos), he sings about resisting the loss and displacement driven by gentrification in Puerto Rico and clinging to his homeland as it was.
"That's a global concept. We have a homeland, we have a heritage, we have a love for that, we have an appreciation for that, and no one wants that to be lost," said Diaz. ...
