Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, otherwise known as Bad Bunny, released his new Latin trap album, “nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana” which translates to “no one knows what will happen tomorrow” on October 13.
“Nadie sabe lo que 11va a pasar mañana” is Bad Bunny’s fifth studio album and is his most recent work since his 2022 album, “Un Verano Sin Ti.”
“Un Verano Sin Ti” achieved mainstream success and was the number one album on the Billboard 200 album charts, according to a Dec. 2022 Billboard.com article.
My standards for this album were based off of the lingering love that I have for “Un Verano Sin Ti.”
I definitely expected to be charmed by whatever new things Bad Bunny was bringing to this album as his music usually carries an element of surprise. Every album he releases is always completely different from its predecessors and I blindly assumed the expectations that I had for his newest release would be surpassed.
Coming in with such high expectations for the album, I was sadly not as impressed as I wished I would be and it puts Bad Bunny in a whole new perspective for me.
Other than maybe five songs, the rest in the 22 tracklist of songs were not even worth my full attention.
This album’s only element of surprise was its use of his fans’ nostalgia, as Latin trap was the genre Bad Bunny started with before he was on everyone’s playlist.
This prompted die-hard fans to say that if other people dislike “nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana,” then they are not a true Bad Bunny fan.
I don’t entirely agree with that opinion, I myself don’t like trap music and it has nothing to do with who sings it. The genre is simply not for me.
I admire the message Bad Bunny has put into this album, which I would describe as his “screw you” to all the criticism he has gotten from all his so-called fans in the past couple of years while in his journey to peak fame.
It’s possible that maybe trap is what he really wants to be incorporating into his work from now on and that’s fine.
What I have admired more than anything from him and what really made him one of my favorite artists is his versatility.
He has had an evolution as an artist unparalleled to anything I’ve seen before, starting from trap to classic reggaeton, to cumbia pop and caribbean beats.
He’s dabbled in so many different styles to the point that his albums are practically genre-less.
Seeing an extremely-famous male Latino artist not be afraid of dressing feminine and doing whatever he wants even if people think it's vulgar, bohemian or gross is what makes him a game changer in the music industry.
Bad Bunny has changed reggaeton for the better, but it’s hard to say whether this album is really adding to all the hype surrounding his career or not.
The songs “WHERE SHE GOES” and “UN PREVIEW” were the first sneak peaks before the release of “nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana.”
Upon initially listening to them, I wasn’t fully convinced the album would solely be trap because of the genre-lessness of his previous albums.
This album had collaborations with many popular Latino trap and reggaeton artists such as Young Miko, Eladio Carrión, Feid, Arcángel, Ñengo flow, De La Ghetto and many more.
“NADIE SABE” is the first track of the album, which includes an orchestra in the intro and all throughout, which is something new for Bad Bunny.
The most important part of “NADIE SABE” was the lyrics. I think he used this song to sum up what the entire album was going to be about.
“The people have to stop being so stupid and think / That they know what the lives of famous people are like”
This song definitely feels like a conversation Bad Bunny is trying to start and have with his audience.
He sings about the meaning of “real fans” and about how people should not act like they really know him because of his fame or wealth.
He also establishes that the album is meant for his fans to love him, cancel him or hate him and he’s fine with whatever reaction they have.
“MONACO” was immediately added to my library when I heard it. The lyrics, the music, the music video – everything about this song is sensational.
The music video consists of famous actor Al Pacino from “Scarface” and “The Godfather” eating dinner with Bad Bunny.
It transitions into Bad Bunny around Monaco, a nod to the Monaco Grand Prix with race cars and of course, girls in bikinis on a yacht.
Interestingly, one of the first lyrics in the song itself is Bad Bunny saying he is fine-looking and successful. A lot of the song mentions how he is calm and unbothered by hate and critique directed towards him.
Though I think it’s pretty extra and annoyingly unnecessary to flex your wealth, fame and the fact that you drink lots of champagne just to prove a point, the song is very catchy and it's arguable that it's just Bad Bunny’s way of showing he made it to fame and now is living in luxury.
Songs such as “FINA” with Young Miko and “PERRO NEGRO” with Feid are also some of my favorites. They both use newer styles of reggaeton and it compliments his music.
Feid and Young Miko are both very talented, new and up and coming Latino reggaeton and rap artists who are gaining a lot of popularity through different collaborations with other big artists.
“THUNDER Y LIGHTNING” with Eladio Carriónis is a captivating song in this album mostly because trap is Carrión’s style, which suits Bad Bunny really well.
Songs such as “LOS PITS,” “WHERE SHE GOES” and “BABY NUEVA,” are about the topic many Bad Bunny fans, like me, have been dreading to face and discuss, which is his relationship with Kendall Jenner.
Kendall Jenner is a model and is part of the famous Kardashian family, rumors of a romance between her and Bad Bunny started in February when they were first spotted out together.
Just like the rest of his fans, I’m unhappy about this relationship. To me it looks like a way for him to try to gain more fame and I don’t think it’s the right way to go.
The couple have since made their relationship very public on Instagram and with a photo shoot they did together for Gucci.
Songs like “GRACIAS POR NADA,” and “NO ME QUIERO CASAR,” talk about Bad Bunny’s past relationship with his ex, Carliz De La Cruz and how he almost got married to her and he’s happy he didn’t.
It’s not really apparent if all the lyrics in these songs are about De La Cruz, but Bad Bunny makes a great effort in many of these songs to stress how much better he is doing in life without his ex-girlfriend.
It’s great that he wants to sing about how good he is doing in life, but when it starts to sound like a clear announcement to the world that you’re not over your ex, and it makes me regret the concept of putting a microphone in someone’s hand who should probably just be sending a drunk text.
“And if it’s going good for you / it's going even better for me”
“If you thought I was still suffering because of you / You clearly haven't seen me in the streets with my new baby, my new cars…”
Another important theme in the album, specific to one of the songs, is a love letter to Bad Bunny’s home, Puerto Rico.
“ACHO PR,” with Arcángel, De La Ghetto and Ñengo Flow is a 6-minute song dedicated to Puerto Rico.
“For my people in the neighborhood, for my people in the village,” are some of the lyrics in the song that allude to it as a dedication to Puerto Rico.
Trap is a beloved genre that has some roots in Puerto Rico and the album revolves around the idea that Bad Bunny appreciates his original fans and his own origins.
I feel that he’s always tried his best to make music everyone can love and can feel represented equally.
Bad Bunny is reminding his fans that they don’t know him well enough to be judging, so he doesn’t care what they think.
It's cliché or untrue, I believe it’s exactly the kind of mindset of someone who went from bagging groceries in Puerto Rico to becoming a famous artist ends up evolving to have.
I didn’t like this album the way I’ve loved his other albums, but I would not give him hate for it because a real fan should respect growth and versatility.
This is just a new aspect in his music, and whether you love it or not, Bad Bunny does not care and that is what I admire about him the most.
