
Bad Bunny refuses the rules of success made in USA
And rewrite those of viral nostalgia
January 16th, 2025
If you've been on TikTok in the past 72 hours (give or take), you've probably heard a song that, even if you don't fully understand Spanish, feels nostalgic, sweet, sad, all at once. It's DtMF (DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS), the track that gives its name to Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny's sixth studio album. Released on January 5, it's already on everyone's lips—viral, a romantic anthem for those who left their home reluctantly in search of a better life and now grapple with memories and everything they missed.
Bad Bunny’s Patriotism Is Both a Political Statement and a Lesson
An ode to his homeland, Puerto Rico, that goes beyond the lyrics and melodies of this work, reflected in much of his promotional strategy and how Bad Bunny engages with his audience and the United States as a whole. An example? His near-total refusal to speak English, even after learning it, and the playful yet pointed way he invites English speakers to learn his language for once. Just a few days ago, Variety exclusively announced that the artist is planning a series of shows in his home country—a true residency titled No Me Quiero Ir De Aquí (I Don’t Want to Leave Here), which, rather than taking place in Las Vegas, will be held at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico this summer. The first nine shows, running from July 11 to July 27, will be reserved for Island residents.
An Immigrant Who Defies Arrival Country Rules and Embraces His Roots
This "refusal" to conform to the rules of Western fame made in the USA is not a sterile, destructive defiance. Instead, it’s constructive, broadening horizons and multiplying points of interest. It serves as a lesson to us—the Anglophone core of the music and entertainment industry, which sees itself as the center of the world and success, the ultimate decider of who makes it and who doesn’t—and as a proud declaration, all at once. That an artist, international by nature and now widely popular in the U.S. and its cultural satellites, ignores the overwhelming pressure to tour these places and instead returns home—to use an unpleasant phrase he might have heard as a mere immigrant in another life—is a powerful statement and a reversal of power dynamics.
A Testament to Loyalty and the Universality of Nostalgia
Even when he doesn't cater to us—standing firm and unashamed in his desire to prioritize his homeland, refusing to join the game that demands those who leave must criticize where they were born—Bad Bunny’s bittersweet, melancholic nostalgia becomes universal. He embodies a sentiment applicable anywhere, from the personal to the global. His DtMF has become TikTok’s anthem for those who’ve lost someone far away, who regret their origins, who have escaped. And yet, we won’t find greater leniency from Bad Bunny toward us for this. On the contrary, as some Twitter users noted, even to buy tickets to his shows, one had to pass a test. For Bad Bunny, fame is serious, rigorous—a matter of roots and redemption.