Bad Bunny’s New and Improved Album: YHLQMDLG: Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana: “I Do Whatever I Want”
Bad Bunny— real name: Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio— has been around in the music scene since 2016, but didn’t gain popularity and recognition until around 2017. Ever since, he has been crushing the charts with fire collaborations such as Bronx native Cardi B, famous actor, Will Smith; and even the “Puerto Rican King of Salsa,” Marc Anthony. Within that year, he has also created an amazing album with J Balvin, titled Oasis and was featured on Nio Garcia’s famous hit and remix Te Boté. He has been changing the message in Latin Hip Hop/Reggaeton since the very beginning, but the Puerto Rican native is crushing the charts with his new album, “YHLQMDLG” (Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana) or, as translated in English: “I Do Whatever I Want.” With Bad Bunny releasing this album, his popularity, sound, and fans have skyrocketed, including me! Being a Puerto Rican female myself as well as seeing Bad Bunny grow and become something better and more original than the older “Reggaeton King” which is Daddy Yankee, it’s a pleasure to see what changes he is making and pursuing in the Latin Hip Hop/Reggaeton genre.
“YHLQMDLG” came out in late February 2020. Many fans waited patiently for the album and ever since it came out, it has received many positive reviews. Personally, I was never into Bad Bunny, but once my family started getting into him, I couldn’t be the only one left out, so I gave it a listen. After listening and trying to understand the lyrics— Spanish isn’t considered my second language— I would rate this album 10/10. My favorites include La Dificíl, La Santa, Yo Perrero Sola, Vete, 25/8 and P FKN R. After listening to the album, from front to back and back to front, Bad Bunny complies a range of emotions and messages portrayed in the album, both important/serious and others just for fun.
Bad Bunny has even created music videos for the popular and well-known songs such as La Dificíl, Pero Ya No, Yo Perrero Sola, and many more. Most of the songs contain music videos but out of the many, the one that caught my eye had to be his most popular, Yo Perrero Sola. Not only is Bad Bunny going against the transphobia in the Latinx Community, he is also supporting the tragic story of a trans woman being slain in Puerto Rico in broad daylight. In a performance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” he performed “Ignorantes” featuring Sech. In both the music video and on live television, Bad Bunny chose to wear a black skirt with a shirt that read: “Mataron an Alexa. No a Un Hombre Con Falda” which translates to: “They killed Alexa. Not a man with a skirt.” Alexa Negrón Luciano, who is also known as, Neulisa Luciano Ruiz, passed away from an unfortunate hate crime in Puerto Rico, because she was a trans woman. What Bad Bunny wore on stage that night of the performance did spark up a couple of comments but many were in support of his decision as well as supporting the loss of Luciano Ruiz.
Overall, if you love Latin Hip-Hop/Reggaeton, important messages yet having fun all at the same time, this album is for you!