BY NOEMI WILSON and ANA PEREYRA BARON
Bad Bunny (Benito MartÃnez Ocasio) Puerto Rican rapper and global superstar, dropped his second debut album YHLQMDLG standing for Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana ("I do what I want") on Feb. 27. The album features Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, Anuel AA, Myke Towers, and Arcangel. Although we expected more well-known features, the album included several rising Latino rappers such as Sech, Nengo Flow, and Mora. YHLQMDLG truly represented the history of reggaeton and Latin trap. MartÃnez Ocasio single-handedly continues to challenge machismo culture while revolutionizing the future of perreo.
The song "Bichiyal" juxtaposes the Puerto Rican slang "bicha," a term used to describe women in the upper-middle class of Puerto Rico, and "yal," which represents the poorest neighborhoods of the island. By combining these references, Bad Bunny shines a light on the inequalities the island faces. It is unclear as to which class the woman in the song belongs to but one thing is certain, Bad Bunny continues to illuminate discussions on race and class.
Latin America and the Caribbean are regions with the highest income inequality. The immense gap between the rich and poor in all areas of Latin America are in MartÃnez Ocasio's socio-political commentary. This talented young artist delivered once again another banger and we can't wait to listen to "Bichiyal" in the club–– at least once quarantine is finally over.
The rapper brings back old-school reggaeton vibes with "La Dificil." The song describes an independent woman who does not wish to be tied to anyone. To give more context, the music video demonstrates a young mother who is a struggling back-up dancer. The music video shows men in the music industry are constantly objectifying the dancers and evaluating women on their looks. We believe the video ties into the sexist and misogynistic environment the music industry creates.
Women tend to be the stars of Bad Bunny's lyrics and music videos, as they should be, but there were only light skin Latinas in the music video. And that's the tea.
El Conejo Malo adds another layer to his music because his lyrics illustrate the controversial topic of gender fluidity in the Latinx community. In one of his lyrics he describes that both men and women are attracted to an individual: "tiene a todo los nene loco y a las nenas locas." Benito brings up conversations about sexuality because these topics tend to be seen as taboo or completely disregarded in the Latinx community. Sexuality isn't something you talk about with your abuelita while drinking un cafecito.
We need so much more of this. It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from, Alexa Negrón Luciano's life should matter to everyone. #HerNameWasAlexa #SeLlamabaAlexa https://t.co/79mWQ6jYig
— TransgenderLawCenter (@TransLawCenter) February 28, 2020
In late February, El Conejo Malo made a bold statement to the Latinx community by wearing a shirt on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon that said "Mataron a Alexa, No a un hombre con falda," meaning "They killed Alexa, not a man in a skirt." This paid tribute to Alexa, a transgender woman who was murdered in a hate crime in Puerto Rico and was reffered to a "a man in a skirt" in news headlines. This said a lot considering the rampant transphobia in the Latinx community that is still extremely apparent today, even in so many of our families, despite what we as young individuals may believe in.
In his latest music video "Yo Perreo Sola" he dressed as a woman and threw nalgas as good as one too, we thought back to when he wore this t-shirt about Alexa. Was this video partly a tribute to the lost lives of transgender women or was he simply challenging gender roles like he's been doing for some time now? So far, he has not personally explained any meaning behind certain choices in this video.
The entire album is a huge pregame for summer, giving us perreo from basically the beginning to the end. Although we are quarantined it doesn't mean the perreo has to stop. It clearly hasn't for Bad Bunny, so maybe it shouldn't for us either. With the rise in popularity of TikToks since we're all stuck at home, Bad Bunny gave us the #SafaeraChallenge and just like the rest of us, Benito has been much more active on Twitter and Instagram. Nowadays it seems like everyone is tweeting whatever comes to their mind. He shows us that literally anything is tweetable and worthy of gaining clicks.
During this quarantine, he's proven he's a man of many talents, giving us pure comedy with his own remake/skit of Toy Story but coronavirus style. It's clear he's bored as ever but we're not mad at it.
Now for those who like conspiracy theories that stretch the truth, here's one for you. At the end of his album he says "Este disco está cabrón, lo hice pa' vosotros, ey/Y en nueve mese' vuelvo y sacó otro/Pa' retirarme tranquilo." This means "This album goes crazy/I did it for you guys/And in nine months I'll come back and release another/To happily retire." While the news of his ‘retirement' is tragic and hopefully not true, the nine months date is hard to ignore. I don't know about you guys but I'm putting two and two together here and… could there be something else coming out in nine months? Regardless of what happens now during quarantine or in nine months from now, seguimos perreando.
seguimos perriando
— 👠(@sanbenito) March 28, 2020
