CARAMANICA At Coachella in 2023, you brought out José Feliciano. I wonder when you think of the Puerto Rican music of the ’70s and the ’80s, what do you hear in common with what you do?
BAD BUNNY When you really, really listen to the music from back in the day, it’s the same thing. I know that people say, Nah, music in the old days, it was different. And it’s true in some ways. But when you listen to the lyrics, when you listen to the stories, it’s the same. I’ve been listening to a lot of Chuito el de Bayamón, an artist from Puerto Rico from the ’40s and ’50s — música jíbara, música típica — and all the songs are about things I can relate to. Wait, he’s singing about this — I was living that two weeks ago.
COSCARELLI Take me back to just before the U.S. election. There’s this Trump rally at Madison Square Garden and a comedian, Tony Hinchcliffe, makes his disparaging comments about Puerto Rico. You decide it’s time to say something. What was going through your mind?
BAD BUNNY I didn’t feel any pressure to say something, I did it because I felt it. I was angry at the time, because I was here in New York. I was like, “Well, this guy’s right here — we should go …”
It was a real moment of frustration. Yeah, I know, he’s a comedian, blah, blah, blah, blah. But that wasn’t a stand-up comedy show. It was supposed to be a political rally. I didn’t know he was a comedian — he was in a suit, I was like, oh, he’s a politician. Then people told me, no, it’s a comedian. It wasn’t funny. For a lot of reasons. I have a great sense of humor. And I like dark humor. But there’s places and there’s circumstances for that.
COSCARELLI Then, a couple of weeks later, a big story coming out of the election was that many Latino voters moved to the right. How did you reconcile those two things in your head?
