Puerto Rico is an enthralling place with many staggering venues and sites to see and visit. However, lately, more and more people have started to speak out about tourism and the gentrification of PR. Benito Martinez, known as Bad Bunny, has been speaking out on these issues through his artistic form of music and film. The 2025 Bad Bunny album and short film “DeBi TiRAR Mas FOToS” was released this past January, and it has fans and critics impressed by how monumental his music is. Even five months after its release, it’s still a powerful, appalling, crucial piece.
The film was released before the album, which operates in a way never done before. Bad Bunny has made it to where he not only wrote his lyrics to have meaning, but the film shows us what he meant. This led the audience to realize the significance of the film and spread awareness of Puerto Rico’s gentrification. The album just adds on to it and conveys the message further.
The film starts off with beautiful scenery of Puerto Rico. Jacobo Morales, a famous Puerto Rican film director and actor, is featured in the film as an elder reflecting on his life. Morales has seen so much of the world, but he realizes none of it compares to PR. He wishes he had taken more photos and reminisces about the woman who had taught him how to dance salsa. On his way to the store to buy bread for himself, and a quesito, a traditional Puerto Rican dish that is mostly cheese, for Concho, an animated frog, Morales takes in all of the sights and sounds, taking in a breath of San Juan, Puerto Rico. As he walks by, he passes by a white family having a barbecue, and a couple, who comment about a place nearby they can drive to instead of walking. When he gets to the store, the lady taking his order is a white lady. The lady asks the elder if he wants a “regular quesito, bacon quesito, guava quesito, or a cheeseless quesito” and then says they can’t prepare his order until he pays, with the store no longer accepting cash. A guy offers to pay for the elder and he thanks him sincerely. Concho and the elder sit on the porch and laugh about the thought of a quesito sin queso. Bad Bunny meant for this to be an allegory to Puerto Rico without any Puerto Ricans.
In Puerto Rico, American investors are flooding the island and taking advantage of tax breaks by buying up properties and driving the rent prices high. Puerto Ricans are being displaced and watching their culture fade as a luxury for tourists, replacing their communities. This process, happening all over the US, is known as gentrification. Puerto Rico also has the highest rate of poverty in the US. Yet, the island is paying the highest amount for electricity, which isn’t even always guaranteed (PR has blackouts every week if not every day). Bad Bunny highlights the gentrification in his album and is committed to making sure everyone understands that preserving Puerto Rican culture in the face of this trend is important.
But Bad Bunny does not just keep his album in Puerto Rico. Hawaii has become the latest example of “climate gentrification” since its housing prices have skyrocketed, leaving the Hawaiians without affordable homes and thus Hawaiians leaving to live in other parts of the U.S. “LO QUE LE PASO A HAWAII” is a song in which Bad Bunny expresses that he doesn’t want PR to turn into Hawaii. He eases into the chorus, where he sings about someone trying to take away the land, beaches, and rivers. He sings, “Quieren el barrio mio, y qué abuelita se vaya” telling us it’s not only the culture at stake, but his own family. He serenades us with the words, “No, no suelte’ la bandera ni olvide el lelolai.” The more he sings, the faster and louder the beat gets. The music not only helps us experience a good time but also as the beat slows down again towards the end the lyrics sink in deep, “No quiero que hagan contigo lo que le paso a Hawai”.
This isn’t the first time Bad Bunny has used his platform to sing and perform to his audiences about problems in the world. His older song from 2020, “Compositor del año” talks about Black Lives Matter, Covid-19, and racism. “For those who forget who they are, don’t worry, we will proudly remind them” is something Bad Bunny publicly stated in Spanish after someone commented about Puerto Ricans at Trump rallies in 2020. When Trump threw out paper towels in response to Hurricane Maria, Bad Bunny donated $1 million to Puerto Rico to help aid and recover.
Bad Bunny has always kept an open mind, whether it was speaking out or trying out new music like trap songs, to reggaeton, Bad Bunny decides to add a little spice to his album with salsa, music in which Puerto Ricans had a huge role in its evolution. In the song “BAILE INoLVIDABLE,” he sings about someone who taught him how to dance, something he’ll never forget. This song perfectly blends love and loss, which can be interpreted as Puerto Rico itself, not just the woman who got away from him. The beautiful lyric, “No, no te puedo olvidar no, No te puedo borrar, tú me enseñaste querer, me enseñaste bailar” reflects his memory of an unforgettable moment that evokes a feeling of passion and closeness even if the bond is gone. As a Mexican who lives on American soil, this song reminds me of the side of myself that never got to flourish but keeps beating in my heart. Going to Mexico for a vacation is not the same as living there. I can never forget moments in which I find myself thinking, I would succeed more over there than here, but it’s the feeling of fondness, learning the dances, and learning more of my own culture, that will forever be with me.
Many tourists can go to beautiful places all the time and they won’t acknowledge the suffering of the land. “TURiSTA” is one of the songs that connects this with us in music. Bad Bunny’s first lyric is talking to someone and telling them they are a tourist in his life that only sees the good parts of him and isn’t there for him in his worst. Bad Bunny sings, “En mi vida fuiste turista, tu solo viste lo mejor de mi y no lo que yo sufría,” It could also be related to someone who was there only for the good parts of life and left when you were suffering.
Critics on Tiktok are following up with the album, making trends about reminiscing about the past, their deceased loved ones, and beautiful vacations taken before. His song “DtMF,” is an abbreviation for “Debí tirar más fotos.” The lyrics, “Debí tirar más fotos de cuando te tuve, debí darte más beso’ y abrazo’ las veces que pude” consider the loss of time and opportunities missed. We are also losing time on doing nothing for Puerto Rico. People can refer back to old pictures of when Puerto Rico wasn’t constantly losing electricity or the homes were actually affordable.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny thanks his parents for his life in the last song in the album is “LA MuDANZA” His lyrics “De aqui nadie me saca, de aquí ya no me muevo, dile que está mi casa, donde nació mi abuelo, Yo soy de P f****** R” let the world know he will never leave the soil where his grandpa was born. Bad Bunny is honored that he is from the island, it’s obvious that he will do whatever it takes to make everyone listen to his music and get this radiant land help and raise awareness.
Puerto Rico is going through many tragedies and Bad Bunny is highlighting and publicizing this so that the beautiful land can be saved. Bad Bunny sings about PR in a way that has many understandable emotions even if there is a language barrier. His songs have brought people together in times where there is displacement, power failure, a loss of culture and family with catchy, upbeat lyrics that spread the word. The album DeBi TiRAR Mas FOToS is a beautifully written tragic story of gentrification and bittersweet nostalgia.
