Bad Bunny released his latest album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” translating to “I Should’ve taken more photos” on Sunday, January 5, and it quickly took No. 1 on Top Latin Album charts. This album is unlike his previous albums; it shows listeners the most authentic, vulnerable, and, most importantly, Puerto Rican Bad Bunny they’ve ever seen. “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” allows listeners to get to know who Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio is.
Bad Bunny, or Benito Antonio, spent most of 2024 abroad, wrapping up his arena tour, performing at Vogue World 2024, and, to many of his fans’ dismay…dating supermodel Kendall Jenner. Despite his immense success during this time, he was terribly homesick, which only worsened with the continuous criticism from fans for “abandoning” Puerto Rico for Hollywood.
When Benito Antonio finally returned home to Puerto Rico, he found himself driving through the streets of San Juan, crying as all he could see out his window was a sea of tourists. He explained in a TIME interview, “Tourists come here to enjoy the beautiful places, and then they leave, and they don’t have to deal with the problems that Puerto Ricans have to deal with day-to-day.” Right then and there, a spark lit the fuse that created the explosive album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” Bad Bunny’s love letter to Puerto Rico.
The thought and care put into constructing “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” went beyond Bad Bunny’s lyrics. He had Puerto Rico in mind every step of the way, and this manifested itself in a number of ways. For example, the album was released as an early gift the day before Dia de los Reyes Magos, a popular Puerto Rican holiday commemorating the Three Wise Men’s visit to Jesus after his birth.
Moreover, the mascot of “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” was a coquí, a small frog that used to only be found in Puerto Rico and appears in most of the album’s promotional content, music videos, and more. The coqui is an icon of Puerto Rico, and the call responsible for its onomatopoeic name, “ko-kee! Ko-kee!” has serenaded Puerto Rico’s residents since the beginning of time. A popular Puerto Rican saying references the animal, “De aquí como el coquí,” translating to “We are from here like the coquí.” Yet, both Puerto Ricans and the coquí are facing serious issues involving endangerment, and Bad Bunny’s songs in the album allude to this.
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The song “Lo Que Le Pasó A Hawaii,” translated to “What Happened in Hawaii,” is a political statement about gentrification and the increase in tourism in Puerto Rico, drawing a parallel between Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Both Hawaii and Puerto Rico were seized and declared US territories in 1898. However, in 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state, and Americanization began to strip the land of its culture and language. For now, Puerto Rico is still an unincorporated territory. Bad Bunny addresses this through the song’s lyrics, “No quiero que pase contigo lo que pasó a Hawaii,” translating to, “I don’t want what happened to Hawaii to happen to you.” This song is a plea for Puerto Rico not to face the same challenges as Hawaii does from unchecked tourism while simultaneously highlighting how tourist developments are already drastically changing Puerto Rico, threatening its rich culture and the lives of its citizens.
