The number one song in the world this past week was "plena". On January 11th, the title song of Bad Bunny’s latest album, I should take more picturesoccupying the first place on Apple Music. The next day, it debuted at No. 1 on Spotify's global charts and remains at No. 1 on both streaming platforms. It also broke Spotify's record for the most number one Spanish-language songs in the most countries. "DtMf" plays in the Afro-Puerto Rican folk music style plena, a genre unfamiliar to most non-Puerto Ricans. Although Plena is well known among Puerto Ricans and is a mainstay of Puerto Rican cultural events, it has never achieved mainstream commercial success. Prior to "DtMF", no plena song had ever occupied any chart position.
MAG, the prolific Puerto Rican and Dominican producer from Brooklyn, serves as executive producer on Bad Bunny’s third album final world tour has since produced much of Bad Bunny's catalog, including "DtMF," tells rolling stones The song's success was surprising. "I didn't expect this reaction, this reception. What's happening with 'DtMF' feels like a cultural movement. It feels like the world is embracing us and Puerto Rico in such a beautiful way," he said.
Although "DtMF" is a world number one, many listeners may not even know what genre they are listening to. The release of a YouTube visualizer of the album (written by Puerto Rican scholar Jorell Mélendez Badillo) provides listeners with a historical context for the music. "DtMF"'s visualization tool, which currently has over 24 million views, includes a brief history of plena and the related Afro-Puerto Rican music genre omba. Visualizers explain that the cultural practice of bomba (music and dance) emerged among communities of enslaved Africans and their descendants in Puerto Rico. About a quarter of a century after the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico (1873), another Afro-Puerto Rican movement emerged, known as the Plenary. Unlike traditional bomba, plena usually includes vocals (as well as drums and instrument variations). In "DtMF," Bad Bunny decided to "sing along with all the kids we now call 'sobrinos,'" MAG explains, referring to a group of students from Puerto Rico's Escuela Libre de la Música who performed on "DtMF." Appears in several songs. album.
While Bad Bunny has blended genres before, this album specifically builds on lesser-known Puerto Rican musical traditions like plena and brings it into the global spotlight like never before. "I hope the legacy of this album...is to make those very traditional folk sounds something acceptable to the mainstream. I think the joy he found in that room with those kids turned his dream into Reality, it’s contagious,” said Jerry Pullés, Latin music programmer at Apple Music. rolling stones.
The album's opening song "NuevaYol", closing song "La Mudanza" and the chart-topping song "Baile Inolvidable" also feature salsa dancing, which ranked No. 1 on Apple Music on January 9. It was surpassed two days later. "DTMF." "Baile Inolvidable" reaches No. 1, becoming the first salsa song to top Apple Music's global charts. Salsa is based on Afro-Caribbean rhythms and was born in the poor Latino communities of New York in the 1960s, with strong influence and participation from the Puerto Rican diaspora. Petra Rivera-Rideau, associate professor of American studies at Wellesley College, explained that although salsa achieved greater commercial success in the 1970s than folk genres such as plena, But salsa "is in many ways comparable to how reggaeton was viewed when it first emerged," says a scholar who specializes in Latin music. Early reggaeton, like salsa before it and full music before it, is often denigrated for its origins in working-class black communities.
As one of the most beloved artists in the world, Bad Bunny brings these historically marginalized genres together on one album as part of a larger political statement. I should take more pictures It was filled with messages warning that Puerto Rican culture, including its musical heritage, could be lost due to forced evictions from the island and gentrification of the island. The messages clearly resonated with listeners. Maykol Sanchez, head of music for Latin America at Spotify rolling stones The success of this album lies in its authenticity. "From the moment you press play, it's clear that Bad Bunny is sending a message," Sanchez said. "Whether you are Latino or not, this album will resonate because it has one clear goal: to provide a powerful and authentic representation of Puerto Rico. Bad Bunny not only celebrates the culture and traditions of his people, but also sheds light on their current reality.”
Even the upbeat "Baile Inolvidable" narrated by Bad Bunny rolling stones is his “favorite (song) on the album” – and has profound significance in addition to being the first No. 1 salsa song in history. The track "Baile Inolvidable" is a six-minute live instrumental salsa piece in which Bad Bunny is accompanied by student musicians from Puerto Rico's Escuela Libre de la Música and singers from the plena band Pleneros de la Cresta. Kacho López-Mari, director of the "Baile Inolvidable" music video, has previously produced music videos for 2019's "Callaita" and 2022's "El Apagón"/Aquí Vive Gente, as well as Bad Bunny's 2023 Coachella The music video's film set explains that the inclusion of student musicians in the songs "is part of the same resistance and struggle that we are promoting. We want public education to continue. We don't want to close La Escuela Libre de la Música."
Last fall, on the eve of Puerto Rico's historic gubernatorial election, López-Mari directed a pro-public education political ad with a concept sponsored by Bad Bunny. Puerto Rico is in the midst of an education crisis, with more than 600 public schools closed in the past decade, and Bad Bunny wants to address the issue and call out the political parties responsible for school closures. Narrated by Lopez Mari rolling stones They filmed some of their pro-education commercials in front of the schools where students from "Baile Invincible" and "DtMF" attend. "Now, students from this school have a No. 1 song in the world. There's a statement ("Baile Inolvidable"). It's not just a celebration of salsa music, it's a statement about public education, it's about Benito’s statement of faith for these kids from Puerto Rico.”
Bad Bunny also demonstrated confidence and investment in young aspiring artists by performing a 30-second piano solo for 17-year-old student Sebastian Torres in "Baile Inolvidable." bad bunny tells rolling stones"There are a lot of young people dancing salsa. In Puerto Rico, that's always been the case. In Cuba too... I think it's a matter of the artist's vision and goals. On a mainstream level, because salsa isn't happening Anything, sometimes artists say "Okay, this is a market we can get into" so they make good music, but you don't feel the street and the essence" with these number one songs and this one more. Extensive album, Bad Bunny Taking bold steps to try to reshape this market is a real investment in the future of young Puerto Rican musicians who keep their cultural traditions alive.
Bad Bunny said, referring to "Baile Involvidable" rolling stones”, “That song was a dream come true for me because I always had it in my head. I heard that synth at work summer without you And, just with the synthesizers, I said 'This is salsa. '" MAG describes the synth in the intro, which takes up roughly the first minute of the six-minute track, "It starts out very mysterious and then transitions into salsa. This is Benito's take on salsa. "
Although Bad Bunny's take on salsa and plena is unconventional, "old-school plena has a direct connection to what Bad Bunny is doing on this album. He's working with people who are committed to preserving the history of plena , like Los Pleneros de la Cresta — a group that came together precisely to encourage social change through their music,” Rivera-Rideau said.
plena "DtMF" barely made it onto the album. As MAG said rolling stones“Benito felt like he had finished the album and tracklist, and then we did one night Parandas (Puerto Rican holiday carol) I got back to the hotel and couldn't sleep. I heard roars and holographic sounds looping through my head. At 8am, with the sound of pitorro, I thought, what if we try plena, but what about our own affairs? So I sent a voice message to Benito and he said, "Eso me gusta mucho." So he said let's go to the studio... I told Benito that the song should be turned into live music. So I said let's bring the band...so we brought the students. I was singing and Benito was singing. Everyone had the best time in the live broadcast room. We recorded a live plenary session and it was this beautiful moment that was really worth celebrating. This was the most beautiful conference I have ever been to. ” While “DtMF” is primarily a song about losing a loved one, and appreciating the moments when you still have them (which ties into the album’s message about a gentrifying Puerto Rico at risk of losing its people and culture) , the song reflects the joy, love, and pain of colonial Puerto Rican life in its complexity.
Sharing the Puerto Rican genre with the world furthers Bad Bunny's call for people to not only appreciate Puerto Rican culture, but also preserve it and Puerto Rico itself. “I know these songs have exposed the world to Puerto Rican sounds, which is already a win,” MAG said. "There is so much more to Puerto Rico in all genres of music besides reggaeton. I hope this inspires more artists from Puerto Rico and other countries to look at their culture and music and be inspired by it."
Vanessa Díaz is associate professor of Chicana/o and Latin/o studies at Loyola Marymount University and co-founder of the Bad Bunny Syllabus Project.