Latinx Files: ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’ proves Bad Bunny is at his peak

Find someone who loves you as much as Bad Bunny loves Puerto Rico.

The 30-year-old music star dropped “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” (I Should’ve Taken More Photos), his sixth studio album, on Sunday. The record, which has been rightly hailed as an instant classic by critics and fans alike, is a heartfelt ode to the island, one that pays tribute to its history, rich cultural tradition and the resiliency of its people.

“This is an album of Puerto Rican music, and a completely different vibe from what any other artist has done,” Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, said in a recent Time interview. “I found what my roots are: the sound that represents me.”

Those sounds? Bomba, plena, salsa, merengue and reggaetón — music that was born or honed in Puerto Rico. To help make them, el Conejo Malo tapped a slew of musicians from the island: students from Libre de Música San Juan, Chuwi, Los Pleneros de la Cresta and RaiNao, to name a few.

“DTMF” kicks off with “Nueva Yol,” a nod to the Nuyorican diaspora — shouts out New York Mets player Juan Soto, Big Pun, Willie Colón and to the Caribbean Social Club in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, affectionately known as Toñita’s — with a sample of “Un Verano en Nueva York,” the 1975 salsa classic by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.” It’s an inspired choice, one that establishes Bad Bunny’s oeuvre as being part of the island’s rich musical lineage without being derivative.

History is a throughline across the project. As my colleague Andrea Flores reported Tuesday, Bad Bunny’s team reached out to Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and author of “Puerto Rico: A National History,” to collaborate on the “DTMF’s” visualizers. These 17 videos, which contain historical lessons about the island, complement the album and serve as supplementary reading.

”[Bad Bunny] was really interested in having that sort of historical component, so people were not only listening to the songs on YouTube, but learning their history while they do so,” said Meléndez-Badillo.

“Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii” (What Happened to Hawaii), an outwardly political anthem of defiance against displacement and gentrification backed by the güiro and cuatro guitar, draws parallels between Puerto Rico and Hawaii, both of which became U.S. colonies in 1898. The latter became a state in 1959, losing much of its culture and identity in the process. It’s a fate Bad Bunny hopes his beloved homeland, which is currently ruled by a pro-statehood party, avoids. He doesn’t want the island to become the 51st state. He wants a Puerto Rico that’s still for Puerto Ricans —”Quieren quitarme el río y también la playa / Quieren el barrio mío y que abuelita se vaya / No, no suelte’ la bandera ni olvide’ el lelolai / Que no quiero que hagan contigo lo que le pasó a Hawaii” (They want to take away my river and also the beach / They want my neighborhood and for my grandma to leave / No, don’t let go of the flag or forget the lelolai / I don’t want them to do to you what happened to Hawaii).

In the visualizer for the song, Meléndez-Badillo writes about two amphibians endemic to Puerto Rico that are facing extinction. The first is the coqui, which was accidentally brought to Hawaii by Puerto Rican laborers hired by U.S. companies to work in the Pacific archipelago (it’s considered an invasive species). The second is the Puerto Rican crested toad, or sapo concho, which has been endangered by the destruction of its habitat and the presence of the cane toad, brought to the island in the 1920s to control white grubs feasting on sugar cane.

Fittingly, Bad Bunny has turned the Puerto Rican crested toad into a symbol of the island’s resilience. An eponymous short film released days before the album introduces us to Concho, a digitally animated toad that still lives in Puerto Rico despite the arrival of hipsters and crypto bros and their cashless ways. Concho is also “DTMF’s” mascot, and is prominently featured in the album’s art and merchandise (along with the phrase “Seguimo aquí,” which translates to “We still here”).

“DTMF” is easily Bad Bunny’s most vulnerable album to date. It’s full of yearning and nostalgia — the album’s title is a lament that more precious moments weren’t captured in photographs. After all, memories fade as they age. It’s what they do. Images make them last just a tad longer. On social media, the wistful titular track has resonated with fans, who have turned a snippet of the song — “Debí tirar más fotos de cuando te tuve / Debí darte más beso’ y abrazo’ las vece’ que pude” (I should’ve taken more photos when I had you / I should’ve given you more kisses and hugs in the times I could have) — into a trend on TikTok, using it to score video and photo slide shows of loved ones who have died. My own sister brought me to tears yesterday after she posted a “DTMF”-backed tribute to our father, who passed away last April, on her Instagram stories.

We’re not even halfway through January, and Bad Bunny has already given us a contender for album of the year. Besides Kendrick Lamar, I can’t think of another artist of their magnitude doing something as layered as “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” — we’re certainly not getting this type of album from anyone in the música Mexicana genre, which is currently in its nouveau rich luxury rap era, any time soon.

How lucky are we to be living in the era of Benito?

More Bad Bunny coverage:

On ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos,’ Bad Bunny Comes Home [Harper’s Bazaar]

‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’ Is Bad Bunny’s Most Determined and Resonant Work Yet: Album Review [Variety]

Bad Bunny Makes a Triumphant Homecoming on ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’ [Rolling Stone]

‘I Found the Sound That Represents Me’: Bad Bunny On Heartbreak and Returning Home to Puerto Rico With ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’ [Time]

Seguimo’ Aquí: Puerto Rico’s Music Is Still A Powerful Weapon Against Erasure [HuffPost]

Bad Bunny Talks Coming Back Home on His ‘Most Puerto Rican’ Album Yet [New York Times]

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De Los assistant editor Paloma Esquivel contributed to this section.