Bad Bunny on Apple Music (2024)

“I like to prepare myself and prepare the surroundings to work my music,” Bad Bunny tells Apple Music about his process. “But when I get a good idea that I want to work on in the future, I hold it until that moment.” After he blessed his fans with three projects in 2020, including the forward-thinking fusion effort EL ÚLTIMO TOUR DEL MUNDO, one could forgive the Latin superstar for taking some time to plan his next moves, musically or otherwise. Somewhere between living out his kayfabe dreams in the WWE and launching his acting career opposite the likes of Brad Pitt, El Conejo Malo found himself on the beach, sipping Moscow Mules and working on his most diverse full-length yet. And though its title and the cover’s emoting heart mascot might suggest a shift into sad-boy mode, Un Verano Sin Ti instead reveals a different conceptual aim as his ultimate summer playlist. “It's a good vibe,” he says. “I think it's the happiest album of my career.”Recorded in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, the album features several cuts in the same elevated reggaetón mode that largely defined YHLQMDLG. “Efecto” and “Un Ratito” present ideal perreo opportunities, as does the soon-to-be-ubiquitous Rauw Alejandro team-up “Party.” Yet, true to its sunny origins, Un Verano Sin Ti departs from this style for unexpected diversions into other Latin sounds, including the bossa nova blend “Yo No Soy Celoso” and the dembow hybrid “Tití Me Preguntó.” He embraces his Santo Domingo surroundings with “Después De La Playa,” an energizing mambo surprise. “We had a whole band of amazing musicians,” he says about making the track with performers who'd typically play on the streets. “It's part of my culture. It's part of the Caribbean culture.” With further collaborations from familiars Chencho Corleone and Jhayco, as well as unanticipated picks Bomba Estéreo and The Marías, Un Verano Sin Ti embodies a wide range of Latin American talent, with Bad Bunny as its charismatic center.

“I’m honored that people have accepted these songs, that my fans enjoy and that have such feeling in them,” Bad Bunny tells Apple Music about the success of “Ignorantes” and “Vete,” the two hit singles that preceded the surprise Leap Day release of YHLQMDLG. The album’s title is an acronym for “Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana,” or “I Do What I Want,” and Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio spends his highly anticipated follow-up to 2018’s X 100PRE living up to that promise, luxuriating in the sonic possibilities, presenting exemplary versions of Latin trap and reggaetón while expanding the genres in new directions with elements of rock and global pop.While X 100PRE featured a relatively small number of credited vocal guests, the follow-up embraces música urbana’s love of collaboration, pairing El Conejo Malo with an impressive array of features. Reaching back towards reggaetón’s 1990s roots, he taps veteran Yaviah for the hypnotic “Bichiyal” and the inimitable Daddy Yankee for “La Santa,” while linking up elsewhere with contemporary Latin R&B wave runners like Mora and Sech. Bad Bunny talked with Apple Music about a few of his favorites off the album and some of the people who helped make YHLQMDLG a reality.Si Veo a Tu Mamá“All of my songs come from my experience or are based on a real-life experience of mine. Everyone falls in love in life. Everyone has relationships. Everyone has had someone. There’s something so natural in writing about love, because we all feel love every day and share love.”La Difícil“What I like most about collaborating with [producer duo] Subelo NEO is how talented they are. They are such humble people who know how to work as a team. They understand the good vibes that I’ve built my fame on, because we shared them at the beginning of my career. I like what they do.”La Santa“This was a very special track for me. Working with Daddy Yankee is always an honor and a pleasure. I’ve learned a lot from him in the studio. This one inspired me so much. Always, always, always when I do something with Daddy Yankee, it’s just so exciting, fabulous, and makes me feel very happy and proud.”Safaera“This was something that I have always wanted to do. It is a very much a part of Puerto Rican culture and the roots of reggaetón. It was special because I made it with one of my best friends in my entire life, someone I started out with in music and who supported me a lot from the beginning and to this day, DJ Orma. He fell in love with this music just like me, with this type of rhythm—reggaetón, perreo old-school.”Hablamos Mañana“I love this one. It’s the most energetic of the album and the most different. In general, there’s a lot of strength and feeling in rock music. I’ll make whatever music that God allows me to. At some point, if I felt like making a rock en español album, I would. If I wanted to make a bachata album, I would.”

As if being two of the biggest and busiest artists working today wasn’t enough to make an album-length team-up between J Balvin and Bad Bunny a tricky project to pull off, there’s also the difference in the stars’ lifestyles. “I wake up at five in the morning,” Balvin tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, “and he goes to sleep at five in the morning. I’m ready to go to the gym and he’s ready to go to bed.” They are the odd couple of urban Latin music: Balvin, an experienced Colombian reggaetón singer who spent the last decade honoring and advancing the genre’s legacy; and Bunny, the flamboyant punk upstart who quickly made his name as one of the more unique acts in the trap en español scene. First teased on Ebro Darden’s Beats 1 show in 2018, the surprise joint album builds on the breakthrough moment of their contributions to Cardi B’s megahit “I Like It,” pushed along by a healthy dose of mutual admiration.“It was like, ‘We have to do something,’” Bad Bunny says of the urgency in the wake of the chart-topping bilingual smash. “A project hasn’t been done in the Latin market from two huge artists with two different styles.” Their parallel lives in the tight-knit urbano scene initially brought them together, and while some of this material dates back to before they blew up, most of the album was completed before they both performed at Coachella in April 2019. As Balvin and Bunny originate from some of the most vibrant locales for Spanish-language music today—and with both representing their homelands proudly in their work—their union here on OASIS shines a brighter and deserving light on the flourishing urban Latin sound.The natural chemistry the pair shared on “I Like It” and 2017’s one-off single “Si Tu Novio Te Deja Sola” proves even more potent over the course of these eight new tracks. On “QUE PRETENDES,” Balvin slinks around the taut reggaetón groove as Bunny’s sung bars, by contrast, bounce against its structure. For the retro-nodding “MOJAITA,” their divergent flirty techniques merge into a gratifying mix that highlights the individuality of their personal and popular appeals. Emotions run high across the pointed verses traded on “ODIO,” buoyed by a breezy beat. “YO LE LLEGO” presents trap dosed with a piquant salsa tincture, while the booze-soaked “LA CANCIÓN” mingles jazzy touches around a muted dembow.Deviating from genre conventions has been crucial to both artists' come-ups, and that approach extends to OASIS. Veteran Argentinian heroes Los Enanitos Verdes add rock flair to “UN PESO,” while the Mr Eazi collaboration “COMO UN BEBÉ” bridges urbano with Afrobeats. As far as Bad Bunny is concerned, the project is about more than merely blending musical styles. “There’s a message here that goes beyond,” Bunny says. “It’s not like me and someone else from Puerto Rico. It’s something bigger.” Adds Balvin, “We just wanted to elevate our culture, you know? If I win, they win. If we win, we all win.”