Abstract
This essay explores how Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny uses studio album Debí Tirar Más Fotos as a tool for political resistance, cultural preservation, and diasporic connection. Rooted in themes of colonialism, displacement, gentrification, and resilience, the album is positioned as an aesthetic counter-hegemonic response to centuries of settler colonialism in Puerto Rico. Through collaborations with Caribbean scholars and the integration of historical and contemporary narratives, Bad Bunny constructs an “imagined community” that connects Puerto Ricans across different geographies through shared memories, emotions, and music. Songs like “Nuevayol” and “Voy a Llevarte Pa’ PR” blend reggaetón and salsa, invoking diasporic nostalgia while centering the lived realities of the Nuyorican community. Tracks such as “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii” and “Turista” directly critique American colonialism and gentrification, warning of cultural erasure through metaphoric and visual storytelling. The accompanying short film to “DtMF” uses symbolism and affect to challenge dominant tourism imagery, instead highlighting generational displacement and the destruction of native ecosystems, represented by the endangered Puerto Rican crested toad.Furthermore, Bad Bunny’s critique of the LUMA Energy crisis in “Bokete” highlights the ongoing impacts of economic colonialism. The album resists linguistic assimilation and affirms Puerto Rican cultural identity through slang, local references, and music production choices. Ultimately, DtMF functions not only as a sonic love letter to Puerto Rico but as a cultural manifesto of resilience, fostering a transnational, affective public that resists colonial structures and reclaims Puerto Rican identity.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
CULTURAL REPRESENTATION, TRANSNATIONAL COMMUNITIES, PUERTO RICAN DIASPORA, MUSIC AS POLITICS
