Photo by@siempreric
A week after Valentine’s Day, Bad Bunny sat on a grand piano two nights before the start of his tour, singing 2018’s “Amorfada,” which roughly translates to “f*ck love.”
It was an intimate moment that didn’t ultimately make it into his live show, but maybe that wasn’t the point; it felt like the breathless blurting of the lyrics was just for him. The silence in the venue during rehearsals transported those of us in attendance back to Benito Antonio Ocasio Martinez’s nascent career days, during which he cemented himself as Latin trap’s king before transforming into the more enigmatic pop star he is today. Still, it’s a title and essence he continues to pay homage to, and further builds on one of 2023’s albums of the year, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana.
“What’s happening is really cool,” Bad Bunny told me in mid-February, reflecting on this seemingly infinitely soaring moment in Latin music. “I don’t know where I see myself now… but it’s not here,” he says, before expanding on the relatable sentiment: “There’s a lot I want to do.”
In an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Bad Bunny’s Most Wanted Tour (which ends this Sunday, June 9th in Puerto Rico), we discussed the state of trap and reggaeton, how he defines love, and more. Watch the full video, which includes conversations with a few key members of his team (including renowned stylist Storm and Benito’s trusted horse handlers who assure us that we have nothing to worry about) and read the brief conversation with Bunny, in English, below.
What inspired this business casual look?
It’s like a no pants look.
I’m gonna try it, but I don’t know if I’m gonna get away with it.
It’s a working outfit... I saw it in the locker room and just put it on.
You looked very pensive during rehearsal, what were you thinking about?
Honestly, I’m always thinking of ideas, things I want to incorporate, whether I like what’s happening or not. We’ve been working on the stage for months and when I arrived three days ago and saw it, we changed it. It was just different, you just feel it or you don’t and I knew it needed to change. That always happens, it’s a part of my life…
It’s a process.
Everything changes at the last minute.
Well, it’s your process, maybe not everyone else’s.
We can be working on something for a year, and two days before I say “no” [laughs]... Karina [Ortiz, choreographer] starts to show me what there is, and I say, “Yeah, ok, we have to change this, let’s do this,” and that’s the way I envision things.
Scheming…
Uh-huh.
And are you ready? Do you feel ready? I feel like you’re not…
[Laughs.] No, I’m not ready. I mean, like, yeah I’m ready because I always kind of am but, well, the production team’s ready, everyone’s ready, the dancers are ready, the lights are ready, the DJ’s ready, everyone’s ready. But I’m not ready in reality. But when the first show starts, I know I’ll be ready.
How do you know when you are?
I think I just say that so it’s fun, but when I get there it’s like, “Yeah, I’m ready.”
On the day of the show, when you’re about to go on stage, what do you like to do? What is your ideal process in those moments?
I’m super easy—being chill in the green room, listening to music, and when the moment comes, people ask me if I have rituals, if I do anything special, but honestly no, I just get off the couch and go.
I know you saw that we picked “Monaco” as the song of the year last year; congratulations! I like that you immersed yourself in trap again on this project. What do you think about where things are going in trap and reggaeton, and where do you want to take them?
Wow, how do I answer that question… I made this album because it was now or never. It was the moment to make it, bring it back to what the essence of my trap was, which has always been different. There are the known figures of the style who, not necessarily imitate, but look at what the gringos are doing, and I’ve always just had my own trap and I think it’s been that way from the start. That’s what I did with this album: bring in my own style of trap, obviously, with an evolution. But I think I made it pretty clear that I was doing it because it had to be done, but later I want to do other things.
Regarding this moment of reggaeton and trap, something is always happening and now there’s a scene in every country. Because before it was just Puerto Rico in its corner, and now there are tons of people in different places and there’s new talent emerging all the time. Puerto Rico continues to be like that—every day there’s someone new, every day there’s a new reggaeton artist. I have some of them on the album, which is my way of supporting the new generation, and I don’t do it for anything in return. Those who have followed my career know that I support those who give it their all. I think what’s happening is really cool, but I don’t know where I see myself now. But, it’s not here. There’s a lot I want to do, a lot of music I want to make. [I have] a lot of heart.
Something I’m known to ask about, and that you talk about in your music, is love. How would you define love?
[Sings] “El amor es una magia…” Love manifests itself in different ways. There’s the love for your mom, which is infinite, of your family, friends... There’s the love for what you do; that’s why I’m here. If it doesn’t move you, it’s not love. I love this and it moves me so, “va por ahí.”
