Bad Bunny Brought Boricua Pride to NPR Tiny Desk

NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series is one of the most-watched live concert Youtube series, and for years, fans have been anticipating a concert with Boricua icon Bad Bunny. After weeks of speculation following the release of his latest album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, Benito finally released his long-awaited concert with NPR Music on Monday, April 7, singing an acoustic yet lively set of songs from the new project. Shot back in February at the NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., Bad Bunny’s Tiny Desk featured a rendition of “PIToRRO DE COCO,” a bolero-style “VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR,” and a slower version of “KLOuFRENS.” Before an emotional rendition of “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” which laments Puerto Rico’s colonization, increasing gentrification, and displacement, El Conejo Malo explained in Spanish how the song came to him from a dream he woke from in the middle of the night and how he wrote the lyrics out after struggling to fall back asleep.

The 31-year-old reggaetonero went into storytelling mode once again to set up for a cheerful performance of “LA MuDANZA,” telling an anecdote about how he and his band were practicing in the cold for the show in front of the White House. During their rehearsal, he says that a security guard came out and began talking with them about Puerto Rico’s ability to maintain its culture while under colonial status, saying, “It’s incredible that after a hundred years of colonization you keep your culture, your language, your tongue, your slang.”

In the middle of “LA MuDANZA,” Benito took the time to spotlight each of the musicians with him, which included percussionist Julito Gastón, bassist Krystal Santana, cuatro players Luiz Sanz and Fabiola Méndez, keyboardist Luis Amed Irizarry, and more, and thank the NPR crew for having him on. He then closed out the show with a quick performance of “DTmF.”

The concert, which featured two Puerto Rican flags with the light blue shade associated with Boricua independence, highlights traditional Puerto Rican folk sounds including plena, bomba, decima, and salsa. Additionally, it features a couple funny moments as Benito checks if he can speak Spanish on the show and struggles to fit in the intentionally small desk he sat at. Following the performance, NPR Alt.Latino host Anamaria Sayre interviewed Bad Bunny about his newest album and asked if there is anything he misses about the island or is afraid of losing. In response, he spoke about overcoming the fear of losing things and appreciating what has always been there:

“I always think you always live in fear of losing something. When you’re afraid of losing something, what you do is take care of it even more – protect it, defend it. I can tell you about so many things that I’m perhaps afraid of losing, but the action of taking care of and defending what one has is worth more than saying that you’re afraid. So before I say I’m afraid, I say I’m ready to overcome that fear.” Benito told Sayre. “The album comes more from a point of missing Puerto Rico, from a point of being far from Puerto Rico and missing it, and from starting to appreciate many things that may have always been there, and they weren’t appreciated.”

The lively performance comes after the Boricua star’s recent appearance in Calvin Klein’s new campaign, which broke the internet as fans went wild over the risqué pictures and created a variety of memes about them. In a couple months, Bad Bunny will kick off his “NO ME QUIERO IR DE AQUÍ” summer residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot on the island on July 11.