How Bad Bunny Became the Sound of Home for Millions of Latinx Fans
When ‘X 100PRE’ dropped, the trap star’s debut album helped give a generation of Latinx listeners a sense of place
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
For Isabel
December 23, 2018. Almost midnight, a few minutes before Nochebuena. Las Rosas, a dive bar in Allapattah, adjacent to Miami’s arts district. You stumble into your car, put your key in the ignition; it lets out a rough purr and lights up as you set the GPS for home and lower all the windows. The balmy Floridian humidity doesn’t seep into your bones like it does in the summertime. You promised your family you’d be rested for tomorrow, when you will stuff your face with hallacas, listen to gaitas, and dance with your grandma in the living room you grew up in.
As the clock hits midnight, a Spotify notification alerts you to a Christmas miracle: Bad Bunny has released his debut album.
You feel bad for every single Latin music journalist booting up their laptops when they should be coquito/ponche crema/wine drunk with family.
