By David Colon
[An excerpt of this piece was published in the Feb.-March 2019 Steinmetz Star print edition.]
The word “lost” means to unable to find one’s way; not knowing one’s whereabouts. Well, if you ask Bad Bunny, he’ll give you a more unique definition. Bad Bunny’s thoughts are that he thinks that being lost is not knowing who you are or were you stand. That’s his meaning of lost.
On his first and newest album called X100PRE (Forever), he wrote a very interesting song. Its name is RLNDT (Rolandito). It refers to the case of the child Rolando Salas Jusino, who disappeared on July 7, 1999 in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico; as a metaphor of how you feel: lost. The case of Bad Bunny is different, since he is lost by fame and without knowing himself.
The song’s opening line starts with him saying, “Hola, ¿Quién soy? No sé, se me olvidó”, meaning, “Helo, Who am I?, I don’t know, I forgot”. This part of the song, next to the title of it, refers to Rolandito’s case. Benito (Bad Bunny) does not talk about the case exactly, but he uses it as a metaphor to explore the subject of the depression he felt at a moment of apogee (the highest point in the development of something; a climax or culmination) in his career. Having fame and success but not finding himself, feeling like a vacuum.
The first verse has him saying, “Hoy olvidé las coordenadas de mi destino, Se me dañó el GPS a mitad de camino, Y no sé si me raptaron o estoy perdido, Pero ya son varios días que no hablo conmigo, No sé navegar con esta oscuridad, siento que estoy algaro, No sé si dejarme llevar, no confío en los faro’ ”. He means, “ I forgot the coordinates of my destination, My GPS was damaged halfway through my journey, And I don’t know if they kidnapped me or I’m lost, But it’s been several days since I’ve talked to myself, I don’t know how to navigate with this darkness, I feel that I’m algaro (running), I don’t know whether to let myself go, I don’t trust the headlights”. All of this is about his journey through depression and how he doesn’t know who to trust anymore.
Near the end of the song, Benito says in a line, “¿Será como me crié o como crecí? Algo que escuché o algo que vi, Lo tanto que amo, ya no me hace feliz ¿Será que no lo amo o que no soy así?”. Saying, “Is it how I grew up or how I was raised? Something I heard or something I saw, So much that I love, it does not make me happy anymore, Will it be that I don’t love it or that I’m not like that?”. It refers to the love and/or attachment that came to feel for the things he got because of fame, they no longer make him happy. “Could it be that I do not love him or that I’m not like that?” Means that those things no longer give him happiness because the real Benito does not love them. Speaking of which he has deviated from the likes of Benito, who he really is.
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, known by his stage name Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton singer. While working in a supermarket as a bagger and studying at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, Bad Bunny gained popularity on SoundCloud. And he is now one of the most recognized latin artist throughout the world.
Now another song on his album, and probably the most liked, has a great meaning to it, it is called, Estamos Bien (We Are Fine). This is an upbeat song where Bad Bunny describes his fancy lifestyle and that he doesn’t care about what others think about him. At the same time talking about how he feels after Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico on September 16, 2017, Puerto Rico had no electricity for 6 months.
The song starts with Benito saying, “’Tamos bien (wuh), yeh, Sobran los billetes de cien, yeah, No hay nada mal, estamos bien, ‘tá to’ bien, hey, To’s los míos están bien, ‘tamos bien, hey”. Meaning, “We’re fine (wouh), yeh, We got bricks to spare, yeah, There’s nothing wrong, we’re fine, everything’s fine, hey, All of mines are fine, we’re fine, hey”. He talks about after everything, his family is still good, they are still wealthy, and they have nothing to worry about.
Almost at the end of the song, Bad Bunny says, “Aunque pa’ casa no ha llega’o la luz, Gracias a Dios porque tengo salud, eh, eh (amén)”. He says, “Although we have no light at home, Thank God because I have health, eh, eh (amen)”. Bad Bunny is referring to the Hurricane María that came across his home country in Puerto Rico on this line which caused an electrical issue across the country, yet he goes on and says that he’s still thankful to God for being healthy trying to say that as long as he’s healthy everything is fine.
Bad Bunny truly loves his work, he’s an achieving, unique, and talented artist. He now is one of the most famous latino celebrities. From a supermarket bagger to a famous artist. Benito Martinez is truly the only one of his kind. On July 21, 2018, Bad Bunny had a five-minute performance at the Tomorrowland Festival in Belgium as part of the set presented by DJ Alesso, who invited him to perform. He sang his lyrics to the Cardi B song “I Like It”. On October 11, 2018, Bad Bunny released “Mia”, a collaboration with Drake, first teased in January. The pair released the video in tandem. It reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100. Bad Bunny released his debut album X 100pre on Christmas Eve 2018. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 at it’s week of its release. That is El Conejo Malo, Bad Bunny.
