- These are the lyrics from Bad Bunny's
"El Apagón, or the blackout,
one of his most streamed songs from his latest album
"Un Verano Sin Ti."
In it, the Latin artist talks about
Puerto Rico's power outages after Hurricane Maria
decimated the island's power grid in 2017.
But in one small part,
he mentions the inseparable rights of reggaeton.
- But they lack seasoning, drums and reggaeton
If you're hearing that [imitating reggaeton beat]
how you could not want to move, right?
It's such a universal beat.
It's almost like your heartbeat.
- The rise in popularity of reggaeton and other Latin beats
has made Bad Bunny a global superstar.
He sold out arenas, top every music chart
and made millions of fans across the world.
But that was not always the case.
- Human rights.
- For years, Latin artists had to record their songs
in English to cross over into the American mainstream.
- Guys like Tito Puente, right?
They had success with the mainstream.
Going into the '60s, a musician like Trini Lopez,
Mexican American folk singer, he had success.
Santana came along in the '70s, but as we're seeing,
it's mostly crossovers
where the Latinos would cross over into the mainstream.
- Artists were really expected to sing songs in English,
to make English language albums, going back to even Selena.
♪ I could lose my heart tonight ♪
♪ She's into new sensations ♪
♪ New kicks in the candlelight ♪
-That was the norm for decades,
and then streaming changed everything.
- We started to see a lot more artists
who the views on YouTube alone were saying that this artists
doesn't need to sing in English in order to be popular.
- The music video by Daddy Yankee,
a veteran reggaeton singer,
has over eight billion views and counting.
The Spanish language version,
"Despacito, is the second most viewed YouTube video in history
and it's way ahead of the one featuring Justin Bieber.
♪ Turn every situation into heaven, yeah ♪
At the time, many called the reggaeton
crossover a summer hit,
comparing it to a set of hits and other one-hit wonders.
[singing in Spanish] -But then Bad Bunny came along.
[singing in Spanish] -Bad Bunny only wanted
to make music and really, really held on to that
and I think was really steadfast in the fact
that he could reach global audiences
if he was singing in Spanish.
So he keep doing that, and now he's the most streamed artists
for three consecutive years in a row.
- Streaming provided access to a whole new audience.
It was the key ingredient for Latin music,
especially Bad Bunny,
who has more than 18 billion clicks just on Spotify.
- Who is this year's top global artist?
- But his artistic evolution, collaborations
and the things he talks about in his music,
from highlighting the effects of machismo.
♪ It's 4 in the morning ♪
♪ and Andrea is leaving La Perla ♪
♪ Many criticize her without knowing her ♪
-From gating and talking about your WhatsApp status.
♪ WhatsApp without your profile ♪
♪ She doesn't save my number ♪
-Topics that have placed him in the American mainstream.
- With Bad Bunny's music, there's also a message
and an intention behind it
and a need to empower the place where he's from.
- Throughout his rise, he's been firm on one thing --
to always sing in Spanish.
- Puerto Rico!
- He told his base that it's a source of pride for him.
- We're doing things in our language,
controlling the world from Puerto Rico.
- But of course, his stage name is in English,
something Puerto Ricans feel as an adaptation to cultural norms.
But more than fitting in, Bad Bunny has made trends.
- This Bradbury.
- From wearing skirts and acrylic nails
to dressing up in drag.
- If I like it a lot, I'll use it.
If I like it, I'm going to use it.
- Bad Bunny continues to break gender norms.
- I think there's a lot of entry points for people
to become interested in his music,
and once he sort of grabs you,
it's just really, really good music
and it's really fun to listen to.
- One of those entry points
is TikTok where he's become even more famous.
[singing in Spanish]
In 2023, Bad Bunny will be the first Spanish Language
artists to headline Coachella,
and he's also nominated for Album of the Year
at this year's Grammys.
- "Un Verano Sin Ti" by Bad Bunny.
- It's, historically, he's the first artist
who does not perform in English to get this nomination.
- It's a significant moment for the music industry
in the United States.
I think that he's already proving himself to the people,
the music business.
[singing in Spanish]