Bad Bunny's love letter to Puerto Rico

The first great release of 2025 is already here: Bad Bunny's newest album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. Over the course of its 17 tracks, the Puerto Rican reggaetonero crafts an intertextual, anti-colonial tome of a record, incorporating sounds from across his island and the boricua diaspora. From his use of salsa classics on "NUEVAYoL," to his pointed interpolations on "VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR," and his detour into folk melodies and songwriting on tracks like the somber "LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii," the record features some of Bad Bunny's most creative, intense, and direct work yet. On this episode of Switched On Pop, producer Reanna Cruz takes Charlie and Nate on a journey through Bad Bunny's love letter to Puerto Rico, with additional insight from journalist and translator Carina del Valle Schorske.

Read Carina's NPR Music review of the record: Bad Bunny's politics of presence.

Songs Discussed:

• Bad Bunny, "DtMF"
• Bad Bunny, "NUEVAYoL"
• Bad Bunny, "BOKeTE"
• Bad Bunny, "EL CLúB"
• El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico, "Un verano en Nueva York"
• Bad Bunny, "PIToRRO DE COCO"
• Bad Bunny, "BAILE INoLVIDABLE"
• Rauw Alejandro, "Tú Con Él"
• Bad Bunny, "VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR"
• Wisin & Yandel, Héctor "El Father," "La Barría"
• Alexis y Fido, "Me Quiere Besar"
• Angel y Khriz, "Cazando Voy"
• Bad Bunny, "El Apagón"
• Bad Bunny, Kendo Kaponi, Arcángel, "P FKN R"
• Bad Bunny, "LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii"
• Bad Bunny, "CAFé CON RON"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices