Bad Bunny
March 10, 1994
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (born March 10, 1994), known by his stage name Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, and songwriter. His music is often defined as Latin trap and reggaeton, but he has incorporated various other genres into his music, including rock, bachata, and soul. He is also known for his deep, slurred vocal style and his eclectic fashion sense. Throughout his career, Bad Bunny has frequently collaborated with artists such as J Balvin, Farruko, Residente, Arcángel, Jhay Cortez, and Daddy Yankee.
March 10, 1994
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio was born on March 10, 1994, in Almirante Sur barrio in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. His father, Tito Martínez, was a truck driver, and his mother, Lysaurie Ocasio, is a retired schoolteacher. His mother often listened to salsa, merengue, and ballads, such as Juan Gabriel's "Abrázame muy fuerte" while Bad Bunny helped her with chores around the house. He has two younger brothers, Bernie and Bysael, and considers his close friends to be part of his family. He said he was raised in a happy home. As "a lanky wallflower with a booming voice", the rapper has described himself as a child by saying, "I wasn't the kid who got involved in the streets. I liked to be at home with my family."
2013
He began to write and create his own interpretations at the age of 14, until in 2013, he began to publish his songs through SoundCloud, including "Get" in 2013, "Tentación" in 2014, "Just let me know" in 2015, among others. While working as a bagger at Supermercados Econo in Vega Baja in 2016, Bad Bunny released music as an independent artist on SoundCloud, where his song "Diles" caught the attention of DJ Luian who signed him to his record label, Hear this Music. DJ Luian introduced Bad Bunny to the production team Mambo Kingz, who were intrigued by Bad Bunny's musical experimentation and style of dress. Since then, he has earned multiple top-ten entries on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. His breakthrough single, "Soy Peor", established him as a forerunner in the Latin American trap scene and reached number 22 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. Ten months after the video for "Soy Peor"'s release, it reached 330 million views on YouTube. His song "Krippy Kush" featuring Farruko also became a success. Bad Bunny's May 2017 collaboration with Karol G, "Ahora Me Llama", garnered more than 756 million views on YouTube and reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. The song was described by Marty Preciado of NPR as a "bass-heavy, unapologetic trap anthem to the power of femininity, soiled in hi-hats and heavy sub-bass [that] challenges hegemonic masculinity, singing about respect, love and sex-positive decisions." "Ahora Me Llama" was listed on "Alt.Latino's Favorites: The Songs Of 2017" as one of the best Latin songs of 2017.
2017
The rapper met jewelry designer Gabriela Berlingeri in 2017 at a restaurant while dining with his family, and the two began dating soon after. Berlingeri assisted Bad Bunny in recording the 2018 song "Te Guste" by providing scratch vocals for Jennifer Lopez's portions of the song. Bad Bunny kept his relationship with Berlingeri secret from the public until 2020. He explained his decision to publicly acknowledge their relationship by saying, "I am happy with her. [People] don't know she has helped me a lot in emotional aspects when I needed it the most." Berlingeri became the first Latina to shoot the cover of Rolling Stone when she photographed the rapper for the magazine's May 2020 cover.
July 2017
In the summer of 2017, Bad Bunny signed a booking deal with Cardenas Marketing Network (CMN) for several Latin American countries. He was featured in Becky G's single "Mayores", released in July 2017. Starting in November 2017, Bad Bunny hosted Beats 1's first Spanish-language show, Trap Kingz. Also in November 2017, Bad Bunny's track, "Tu No Metes Cabra" peaked at number 38 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. The re-mix demanded the release from prison of Anuel AA. At around the same time, the song "Sensualidad," released as a collaboration between Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and Prince Royce, peaked at number 8 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, while the remix of "Te Boté" with Ozuna and Nicky Jam reached number one on that chart. In the year 2017 alone, Bad Bunny featured on fifteen Billboard Hot Latin Songs-charting tracks.
2018
Bad Bunny has stated that he likes to live a calm life, saying that immediately after a concert he leaves the area to avoid crowds. He disappeared from social media for a time when he was overwhelmed with his sudden rise to fame. Views of his videos on YouTube tallied seven billion in 2018. In 2019, Bad Bunny played on the "Away" roster during the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game at the Bojangles' Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
2018
His fashion sense has been noted by the media. Vanessa Rosales of CNN opined that "in pink, florals and short shorts, Bad Bunny champions a new masculinity". According to Vogue, Bad Bunny is a "well-known sunglasses fanatic". The rapper once joked that being able to wear sunglasses at night was a key motivation for becoming an artist. His gender variant behavior is on full display in many of his videos, and when he, at award shows, appears with well-manicured and polished, long fingernails. Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian opined in 2020 that his style influenced fellow Latin artists, who "often now share his highly colorful mashup of streetwear and tailoring." In the video for his single "Estamos Bien", Bad Bunny is seen enjoying time with his friends, then polishing his fingernails with a purple nail polish then blows them dry. His video for "Yo Perreo Sola" featuries the artist performing in full drag. His fashion sense is also influenced by his interest in skateboarding as a teenager. After interviewing him in 2018, NPR interviewers Felix Contreras and Jasmine Garsd said that one of the things that struck them most was his humility. In an episode of Behind the Music, he stated that he is inspired by Ricky Martin's coming out as gay: "You don't have to be gay to be inspired by that action of honesty and freedom, of being yourself against the world despite everything you deserve. I look at it like a very inspiring moment for anybody. At least for me, it's very inspirational."
May 2018
In May 2018, American rapper Cardi B released a collaboration with Bad Bunny and J Balvin, "I Like It", which hit number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. In Cardi B's single, Bad Bunny raps in Spanish, Spanglish, and English. It became Bad Bunny's first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100, and received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. On October 11, 2018, Bad Bunny released "Mia", a collaboration with Drake. It reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100. In November 2018, Bad Bunny released "Te Guste" with Jennifer Lopez, with a video directed by Mike Ho.
September 26, 2018
Bad Bunny has been openly critical towards the lack of humanitarian aid in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island of Puerto Rico. Introducing his performance of "Estamos Bien" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on September 26, 2018, the artist stated in English: "After one year of the hurricane, there are still people without electricity in their homes. More than 3,000 people died and Trump's still in denial." Shortly after the hurricane, Bad Bunny personally distributed food, water, and generators in his hometown of Vega Baja. A year later, his family home was still running on three generators. He established the Good Bunny Foundation, which distributes toys to children living in poverty in Puerto Rico.
December 24, 2018
Bad Bunny released his debut album X 100pre on Christmas Eve 2018 soon after leaving DJ Luian's label "Hear this Music", revealing on an Instagram live stream that he was never allowed to make an album and also confessing that he actually produced his music by himself. He joined Rimas Entertainment as soon as he left "Hear this Music" to release his debut album on December 24, 2018. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, X 100pre received an average score of 84 based on five reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". The record contains a variety of musical genres, including pop punk, Andean music, Dominican dembow, and "windswept 80s stadium rock". Alexis Petridis of The Guardian praised Bad Bunny's "off-kilter creativity", opining that Bad Bunny "feels less like part of the current pop landscape than an artist operating slightly adjacent to it. He is separated from the pack as much by a desire to take risks as by his roots." From March 8–10, 2019, Bad Bunny performed a sold-out weekend concert run at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan, his debut in Puerto Rico's major entertainment venue. The initial 2-date concert sold out in hours, prompting a third date, after much speculation and demand, including specially-priced student tickets. X 100pre was later included on Rolling Stone's industry-voted list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020) at number 447.
2019
On June 28, 2019, Bad Bunny released Oasis, an eight-song collaborative album with J Balvin. The record was released overnight and was deemed a "surprise" release. The two artists first met at a J Balvin concert in Puerto Rico, when Bad Bunny was working on releasing music on SoundCloud, and then collaborated on the 2017 track "Si Tu Novio Te Deja Sola". The chemistry between the two was so strong that they came up with the idea to release a joint album. Oasis peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard US Latin Albums chart. In 2019, Bad Bunny performed on the main stage at Coachella. In July 2019, Bad Bunny put his European tour on hold, flying from Ibiza to Puerto Rico to join protests against governor Ricardo Rosselló. Bad Bunny and Residente released a protest song, "Afilando los cuchillos" , (in English: Sharpening the knives) during the demonstrations. The song garnered 2.5 million views on YouTube within a day of its release.
January 2019
Bad Bunny supports LGBT rights and states that he "[feels] a big commitment to the community", due to widespread gender-based violence in Puerto Rico. In January 2019, Bad Bunny criticized a tweet by reggaeton artist Don Omar that was widely considered to be homophobic, tweeting: "Homophobia, in this day and age? How embarrassing, loco." During a performance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in February 2020, he called attention to the murder of transgender woman Alexa Negrón Luciano in Puerto Rico by wearing a shirt with the words "They Killed Alexa. Not a Man in a Skirt.", referencing news reports that had misgendered Luciano. Openly gay singer Ricky Martin has stated that Bad Bunny "has become an icon for the Latin queer community" due to his outspoken support of gay and transgender Latinos as well as his embrace of drag culture. Suzy Exposito of Rolling Stone wrote of her belief that Bad Bunny's denouncement of gender violence will make harassers "perhaps think twice before they hassle any woman, or gender-nonconforming person, again."
July 22, 2019
Bad Bunny has criticized the decisions made to close schools in Puerto Rico and contrasted them with the opening of more and more prisons. He has since been nominated for Telemundo's Tu Musica Urban Awards "Humanitarian Award of the Year." On July 22, 2019, Bad Bunny joined artists such as Residente, Ricky Martin, and more than half a million Puerto Ricans in taking the streets and shutting down a major highway PR-52, more commonly known as Expreso Las Américas or Autopista Luis A. Ferré, in the days-long protests against government corruption and demanding Ricardo Rosselló's resignation. He has not taken a position regarding the statehood movement in Puerto Rico, and has stated that he would like to do more research on the subject before forming an official stance.
November 22, 2019
YHLQMDLG debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, becoming the highest-charting all-Spanish album ever on the chart at the time. The album was met with critical acclaim, who praised the album's musical diversity. "Vete" was released as the lead single of the album on November 22, 2019. The album title was first mentioned during a sequence of the accompanying music video. The second single, "Ignorantes", with Panamanian singer Sech came out on February 14, 2020. In March 2020, Bad Bunny released the music video for "Yo Perreo Sola", in which the artist performs in drag. The final frame of the video denounces sexual harassment of women, and reads: ""If she doesn't want to dance with you, respect her, she twerks alone". On the song and video, Bad Bunny stated "I wrote it from the perspective of a woman. I wanted a woman's voice to sing it–'yo perreo sola'–because it doesn't mean the same thing when a man sings it. But I do feel like that woman sometimes". "Yo Perreo Sola" landed number one on the Billboard Latin Airplay chart, earning Bad Bunny his ninth No.1 on the chart in just over two years.
February 2020
In February 2020, Bad Bunny was a guest performer at the Super Bowl LIV halftime show, headlined by Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. Bad Bunny announced the album YHLQMDLG on February 27, 2020, during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and stated that it would be released on Leap Day 2020. It was released on February 29, 2020. The album's title stands for "Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana" (Spanish for "I Do What I Want") and features collaborations with Daddy Yankee, Yaviah, Jowell & Randy, Ñengo Flow, among other artist. The album is an homage to the marquesinas (garage parties) Bad Bunny grew up attending, and features many nods to early/mid-2000s reggaeton. On the final song on the album, "<3", the artist announced his intention to retire after releasing one more album with the lyric "In nine months I'll release another, to retire calmly like Miguel Cotto", referencing the retirement of the Puerto Rican boxer. He noted that the stress of fame has had a negative impact on his mental health.
April 04, 2020
On April 4, 2020, he released the song "En Casita" on SoundCloud, which expressed solidarity towards others in quarantine due to COVID-19 and featured vocals from his girlfriend, Gabriela Berlingeri. On May 10, 2020, Bad Bunny released his third solo studio album (fourth overall) Las que no iban a salir, without previous announcements. The album's title translates to "The Ones that Were Not Going to Come Out" and is primarily a compilation of previously unreleased or unfinished songs. Songs from the album were played on an Instagram live stream that Bad Bunny made in late April. The album features collaborations with Don Omar, Yandel, Zion & Lennox, Nicky Jam, and Jhay Cortez. Discussing the album's surprise release, Bad Bunny explained, "There was no real meaning behind it. I just thought, 'Damn. What people need is entertainment'". Bad Bunny had been filming his supporting role in Narcos: Mexico before filming was postponed due to the pandemic.
May 02, 2020
Bad Bunny's quirky social media presence has garnered social media attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. He hosted a three-hour long Instagram live session on May 2, 2020, in which over 250,000 viewers were connected at all times, at one point reaching 320,000 viewers. These numbers surpassed popular live sessions by Drake and Tory Lanez. Houston-based artist Cynthia Coronado painted a picture of a popular post of the rapper tanning while wearing heart-shaped sunglasses in quarantine, and Bad Bunny offered to purchase the painting via Instagram for $5,000. On May 14, 2020, Rolling Stone featured Bad Bunny in the magazine's cover story titled "Bad Bunny in Captivity," a detailed account of the rapper's quarantine spent in an Airbnb in Puerto Rico. Bad Bunny became the first Latin urban artist to appear on the magazine's cover. Furthermore, the photos produced for the story were created by Gabriela Berlingeri, a jewelry designer and Bad Bunny's girlfriend, making her the first Latina to ever shoot a cover story for the magazine. With the story, Rolling Stone Latin music editor Suzy Exposito also became the first Latina to write a cover story for the magazine.
July 2020
In July 2020, he appeared on the first digital cover of Playboy magazine as the first man to appear on the cover other than the magazine's founder, Hugh Hefner. The cover was shot by photographer Stillz in Miami, Florida and the magazine includes a feature article entitled "Bad Bunny is Not Playing God." He also received the ASCAP Latin award for Songwriter of the Year. The following month, his song "Pero Ya No" appeared in an advertisement for politician Joe Biden's 2020 United States presidential election campaign. On September 20, 2020, Bad Bunny performed a surprise, live (via his YouTube channel and Uforia), free concert from atop a flatbed truck that looked like a subway car going through the streets of New York and ended at Harlem Hospital. With a motorcade including police and vehicles flashing their lights, the subway car with Bad Bunny on the top drove through The Bronx and Washington Heights in Manhattan. In October 2020, Bad Bunny released the single "Dakiti", with Jhay Cortez, which topped the Billboard Global 200 and reached number five on the US Hot 100. The song is included on his third studio album, El Último Tour Del Mundo, which was released on November 27, 2020, and was described as a personal and ambitious record. It became the first all-Spanish language album to reach number one on the Billboard 200.
November 23, 2020
On November 23, 2020, it was announced that he tested positive for COVID-19 but without "significant symptoms".
2021
A lifelong professional wrestling fan, Bad Bunny got involved with the professional wrestling promotion WWE in 2021. He made his first appearance for the American promotion during their annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) on January 31. At the event, he performed his song "Booker T" live, which also had an appearance by the former wrestler of the same name. Also at the event, Bad Bunny got involved in a segment with The Miz, which saw him get physically involved by performing a top rope dive onto the wrestler and tag team partner John Morrison during the Royal Rumble match. He then began appearing on WWE's weekly television show, Monday Night Raw, and continued to be involved in segments with the Miz. It was then reported that Bad Bunny had begun receiving professional wrestling training at WWE's training facility in Orlando, Florida, the WWE Performance Center, with reported plans for an upcoming match.
2021
In early 2020, he performed at the Super Bowl LIV halftime show as a guest, alongside Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, and became the first Latin urban music artist on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. During the year, Bad Bunny released his second solo studio album, YHLQMDLG (Yo hago lo que me da la gana)—which earned him a Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album, the surprise compilation album Las que no iban a salir, and his third album, El Último Tour Del Mundo, which became the first all-Spanish-language album to top the US Billboard 200 and generated the Billboard Global 200 number-one single "Dakiti". He became the first non-English language act to be Spotify's most streamed artist of the year (2020). In 2021, Bad Bunny began making guest appearances in the professional wrestling promotion WWE, where he won the WWE 24/7 Championship once and competed in and won a tag team match at its flagship event, WrestleMania 37 for which he received praise. The same year, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual list.
February 20, 2021
Bad Bunny and YHLQMDLG respectively became Spotify's most-streamed artist and album globally of 2020. It marked the first time a non-English language music artist topped the year-end list, with a The Guardian article considering him "the world's biggest pop star" for his streaming numbers. The album received the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop or Urban Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. On February 20, 2021, Bad Bunny performed "La Noche de Anoche" with Rosalía and "Te Deseo Lo Mejor" on Saturday Night Live, hosted by Regé-Jean Page, as well as appearing in the pre-recorded musical sketches "Loco" and "Sea Shanty". On the US Billboard Hot 100, Bad Bunny's next single "Yonaguni" became his fourth top 10 entry and first with no accompanying acts. Bad Bunny was cast in an upcoming David Leitch-directed film starring Brad Pitt.
July 2021
In July 2021, it was announced that Bad Bunny co-wrote and co-produced the fifth album of Puerto Rican Latin pop artist Tommy Torres titled El Playlist de Anoche. Bad Bunny won the most awards at the 2021 Billboard Latin Music Awards with ten, including the category Artist of the Year. The following months, he was featured on Aventura's single "Volví", and released "Lo Siento BB:/" with Tainy and Julieta Venegas. Bad Bunny's 2022 concert tour, El Último Tour del Mundo, will visit the US and Canada.
Late 2021
Born and raised in the municipality of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny gained popularity on SoundCloud and was eventually signed to a record label while working in a supermarket as a bagger and studying at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo. Following the release of his breakthrough single "Soy Peor" in late 2016, he rose to stardom after collaborating with Cardi B and Drake on the singles "I Like It" and "Mia", which charted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number one and number three, respectively. His debut album X 100pre (2018) was awarded a Latin Grammy for Best Urban Music Album. His collaborative album with J Balvin, Oasis (2019), contains the popular singles "Qué Pretendes" and "La Canción".
