The stars are aligned tonight
This is a cultural article which is part of Aftonbladet’s opinion journalism.
It doesn’t happen often but sometimes the stars align just right. We are in the middle of such a period now. Let me explain.
This weekend the Puerto Rican superstar is coming Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio aka Bad Bunny to Stockholm. The last time it happened was the summer of 2019 and the following year he made history as the most streamed Latin American artist globally. Despite that fact, it was another 5 years before he was seriously recognized by the invisible, but alas, forces.
What happened that night was not that the rules of the game suddenly changed, but that Bad Bunny with his concept album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” managed to become inevitable
Unlike those who in recent years have been fed the narrative that the biggest artists are named things like Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Dragon I have an alternative truth. A truth that lacks support from the fact that international success can only be achieved in English. After all, Bad Bunny has managed to capture hearts worldwide with his trap in Spanish, where the sensual and political are interspersed with musical influences from everything from reggaeton to traditional orchestral music.
The American Grammy Awards have long lived in their own denial about what is really worth taking into account musically outside of the world music branch. Until last year when the most prestigious award, Album of the Year, went to Bad Bunny. For the first time for an artist performing in Spanish.
What happened that night was not that the rules of the game suddenly changed, but that Bad Bunny with his concept album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” managed to become inevitable. A month later, he got to hold the most attention America has in terms of entertainment – the halftime show during the Super Bowl final. To Donald Trump’s chagrin. Who the hell is this Bad Bunny? he wondered, arranging his own halftime show with a name in a language he himself understands: Kid Rock.
Bad Bunny comes from a long and proud tradition of Spanish-speaking artists who have unfortunately been forced to fold: Ricky Martin, Shakira and Enrique Iglesias. They all began their careers in Spanish, but despite being proud of their origins, have had to adapt and switch to English to make their big hits.
One could imagine that during the halftime show he would have wanted to end with a middle finger to the USA
“Debí Tirar Más Fotos” revolves around the home country of Puerto Rico, which has a difficult relationship with the American mainland, to say the least. The country is part of a US territory, and Puerto Ricans are US citizens, but they lack representation in Congress and cannot vote in presidential elections. The opening track “NUEVAYol” samples the famous salsa orchestra El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico and their song “Un Verano en Nueva York”. It’s a song about a summer in New York, but also about the migration that many Puerto Ricans made to the city during the 50s and 60s.
The Super Bowl is the only gig Bad Bunny chose to do on American soil ahead of his tour. It’s a stance against ICE and a way to protect their fans. One could imagine that during the halftime show he would have wanted to end with a middle finger to the USA. But while the powers that be try to convince us that the only way to smooth the world’s injustices is to point the finger at the powerless, Bad Bunny tenderly and magnanimously reminds us instead to unite.
I, like a large part of the world right now, am completely engrossed in the World Cup. Although it doesn’t change anything when the football acid has settled, it is with great pleasure that I watch when nations that have previously tormented and tortured other nations face the guillotine. That their favorite players fall to their knees before the God and religion they have proclaimed a scapegoat is cinematic.
But it’s all hallelujah when one of the biggest artists right now not only makes music that makes me want to call everyone I love and have been in love with, but at the same time angers the person in the world who to me embodies the anger I feel about the state of the world.
My gates stand wide open tonight. Pictures will be taken to capture the moment and then, when we’re done dancing and the playoffs are near and the illusion is further away, I’ll zoom back in and enjoy the rest of summer and baby. Whoever it will be.
Ayan Jamal is a culture writer.
