Bad Bunny brings the energy and sounds of Puerto Rico to the Tiny Desk Concert

Behind a school desk and at the helm of a special group of Puerto Rican musicians, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio —better known as Bad Bunny— performed on one of the most important stages for music on the internet: NPR’s Tiny Desk. Although the singer-songwriter is considered one of the biggest names in the industry and has won several Grammy and Billboard awards, he had not appeared until now in the series of videos that other global stars such as Adele, Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa, among others, have starred in. The Puerto Rican celebrity performed several songs in what has already become a key moment for Latin music globally.

The Tiny Desk concerts have been taking place for more than 15 years. Laura Gibson inaugurated the performances in 2008. The vast majority of the artists featured have been American, but NPR Music —the National Public Radio broadcaster in charge of the video series— has opened the door to Latino projects from inside and outside the United States, and even dedicates a month each year to Spanish-language music, which has led to talents such as Natalia Lafourcade (from Mexico), Juanes (from Colombia), Mon Laferte (from Chile), Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso (from Argentina) and The Marias (from California but with Latino roots) getting their own session.

The performance involved songs that are part of DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, the Puerto Rican’s most recent work, which has reached the top of the Billboard 200 chart and been applauded for exploring the complexities of Puerto Rico’s political status, as well as issues such as gentrification and the loss of cultural identity, topics he also mentions in the video, which is just over 30 minutes long.

After opening his presentation with PiToRRO DE COCO, the heartbreak song in which Bad Bunny experiments with the jíbaro genre, which is traditional to Afro-Caribbean culture, VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR, immediately got the audience in the mood to party. Martínez stated in Spanish: “I didn’t know there were so many people here.” He then asked if there were many Puerto Ricans, who quickly identified themselves.

One of the key moments was when he performed LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii, one of the album’s strongest tracks, in which he laments the negative effects of gentrification and changes in Puerto Rico’s cultural identity. Before singing it, he explained: “It’s a song I dreamed. I was sleeping, and I had to get up to write the whole song. It had never happened to me before (...) I tried to continue sleeping, but the song wouldn’t let me.” He also recounted that prior to the Tiny Desk performance, he was rehearsing with his band near the White House when they were approached by a worker who liked the song. “He told us, ‘It’s cabrón. It’s over 100 years of colonialism, and you guys are still maintaining your culture, your language, your slang.’ And we said ‘Thank you. I didn’t know if he was fucking with me.”

While telling the story, Bad Bunny sounds frustrated that many Americans don’t really know much about the island where he grew up. “You guys sometimes don’t know where Puerto Rico is,” he told the audience, addressing mostly non-Latinos, and at one point even suggested he forgot whether he should speak in Spanish or English for the recording. “For a moment I felt like I was in PR, so thank you for being here, people.”

To close, Benito led a rendition of LA MuDANZA, a love letter to his family’s past and the environment in which he grew up. “My story comes from the same place it comes from for many of us,” he said. “That’s why we are here. All of us here are Puerto Ricans. So we feel very proud to be able to represent and to be able to take our music and our culture to the whole world.” And while much of the world now knows who Bad Bunny is, with his Tiny Desk his music may reach more ears as he gives his fans a session they can constantly repeat until he returns to that famous, small desk.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition