To Understand Bad Bunny, I Had to Understand Puerto Rico: 7 Best Moments From Cerramos en Casa Night Two

You can’t fully understand Bad Bunny without understanding Puerto Rico.

I know that might sound obvious.

Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has spent his career making Puerto Rico impossible to separate from his music.

But as someone who doesn’t speak Spanish, I realized there was a gap in the way I experienced his work.

I knew the songs.

I knew the melodies.

I knew the cultural impact.

But I didn’t always understand the language behind them.

So I decided to start somewhere else: the place that created him.

I traveled to Puerto Rico with Discover Puerto Rico to experience the island through the music, food, art and traditions that helped shape one of the biggest artists in the world.

Rather than trying to understand Bad Bunny solely through his lyrics, I wanted to understand the world those lyrics came from.

Because Bad Bunny is more than an artist from Puerto Rico.

He has become one of the island’s most visible cultural ambassadors, using music, fashion and visual storytelling to bring pieces of Puerto Rican life to audiences around the world.

If you want to understand him, Puerto Rico is one of the best places to begin.