Bad Bunny Trash-Talks Himself in New Promo for NBC’s Upcoming Episode of “Saturday Night Live”

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny’s seeing double…

In the latest Saturday Night Live promo, the 29-year-old Puerto Rican Grammy-winning superstar, this week’s host, squares off against this week’s musical guest, who so happens to be Bad Bunny.

Riffing on the singer-actor’s professed love for professional wrestling, the promo features cast member James Austin Johnson as a WWE-style announcer interviewing a rather soft-spoken “Benito” – Bad Bunny’s birth name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio – who says he’s not nervous about the hosting gig. “Hell, no. I love being silly,” says Benito.

At that point, a tougher-looking opponent enters the “ring” to smoke and a heavy metal accompaniment. “Oh my God!,” says Johnson. “It’s Bad Bunny!”

“Well, I’ve got a Weekend Update for you, amigo,” says the sunglass-wearing Bunny to Benito. “You suck.”

Bad Bunny, who was an SNL musical guest on February 20, 2021, has made regular appearances on WWE’s weekly television show Monday Night Raw.

The singer-rapper released his fifth solo album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, on October 13. He also appears in the 2023 biopic Cassandro starring Gael García Bernal as gay wrestler Saúl Armendáriz aka Cassandro.

Bad Bunny Teases New EDM-Tinged Single on TikTok

Posted on May 16, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny is switching genres again…

In a one-minute video posted on his TikTok account Monday, May 15, the 29-year-old Puerto Rican Grammy-winning artist is in a vibrant room, rocking an all-black leather outfit and his natural curls as he shares a clip of new EDM-tinged single.

“Check this out,” he says in Spanish before pressing play.

A dramatic melody then begins, backed by Bad Bunny’s signature deep vocals.

“Baby, tell me the truth if you forgot about me/ I know it was only one night, that we’re not going to repeat/ In you I wanted to find what I lost in someone else/ Your pride doesn’t want to speak to me, so we’re going to compete,” he passionately chants in the opening verse.

Then, the rhythm transitions to a Jersey Club-inspired beat (a hybrid of house and hip-hop), where he continues, “I don’t like to lose, tell me what you’re doing to do.”

In the caption, he asked his over 31 million followers, “Tell me if you like it and I’ll send it to you via WhatsApp :)”

The upcoming single comes on the heels of his collaboration on Grupo Frontera hit “un x100to,” which marked his first time dipping his toes in the norteño-cumbia realm. The song earned Grupo Frontera its highest debut on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, entering at No. 3 on the April 29-dated ranking, and later hitting No. 1 on both the Latin Airplay chart and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart.

Last year, the artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio told Billboard his plans of taking a break in 2023, but would still release music.

“I’m taking a break. 2023 is for me, for my physical health, my emotional health to breathe, enjoy my achievements,” he said. “We’re going to celebrate. Let’s go here, let’s go there, let’s go on the boat. I have a couple of sporadic commitments, and I’ll go to the studio, but there’s no pressure. Remember yourself, cabrón. You’ve worked your a– off.”

@badbunny

dime si te gusta y te la envio por whatsapp 🙂

♬ original sound – Bad Bunny

Grupo Frontera Teams Up with Bad Bunny on New Single “un x100to”

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Grupo Frontera has found it’s one percent…

The Regional Mexican group has joined voices with Bad Bunny to release the single “un x100to” on Monday, April 17, marking the first collaboration between the two acts, and a new twist for el Conejo Malo.

Produced and composed by Latin hitmakers Edgar Barrera and MAG, the romantic cumbia–norteño narrates the story of a person who misses their ex and makes an important phone call with one percent of battery left on their phone.

The Spanish-language ballad’s lyrics translate to: “I have only 1% left, and I’ll use it to say I’m so sorry/ If they’ve seen me in the disco with someone else, it’s just wasting my time/ Baby, I can’t lie to you; That story that they saw me all happy, that’s not true/ Nothing makes me laugh anymore, only when I see the photos and videos I see of you.”

The official music video shows the group and Bad Bunny performing the song in front of an isolated ranch in a desert.

Born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Bad Bunny first teased the track on his TikTok account on Sunday, April 16, where he’s seen singing part of the nostalgic lyrics and flaunting his cumbia-dancing skills.

Although he’s a longtime fan of Regional Mexican music, his new track with Grupo Frontera is only his second regional Mexican collab.

Prior to this, he worked with Natanael Cano for a remix of “Soy el Diablo,” a corrido.

Over the weekend, after he headlined Coachella, he also posted a video singing along to Cano’s “AMG” in collaboration with Peso Pluma and Gabito Ballesteros.

Bad Bunny Makes History While Topping Billboard’s Top Artists of the Year Chart

Posted on December 1, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny is the musician of the moment…

The 28-year-old Puerto Rican superstar tops Billboard’s year-end Top Artists chart for the first time, while his blockbuster release Un Verano Sin Ti is the year-end No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums recap.

It’s both the first time that an act that primarily records in Spanish is the year’s top artist, and a mostly non-English-language set is the biggest album of the year. (Billboard began compiling the year-end Top Artists category in 1981, and albums in 1956.)

Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, crowns the year-end Top Artists tally due largely to the extraordinary success of his second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, the all-Spanish-language Un Verano Sin Ti, and its slew of hits on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.

Un Verano Sin Ti debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated May 21 and spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks atop the chart – the most weeks at No. 1 since 2016. The set also never left the top two positions of the weekly list in its first 24 weeks – becoming the first album to spend its first six months in the top two.

Un Verano Sin Ti also marked just the second all-Spanish-language album to reach No. 1 on the weekly Billboard 200, following Bad Bunny’s own El Ultimo Tour del Mundo in 2020.

Bad Bunny also profited from the continued success of four of his other albums – YHLQMDLG, El Ultimo Tour del Mundo, X 100PRE and the boxed set Anniversary Trilogy – all of which charted on the Billboard 200 during the 2022 tracking year.

In total, Bad Bunny places four albums on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums chart – Un Verano Sin Ti (No. 1), YHLQMDLG (No. 36), El Ultimo Tour del Mundo (No. 69) and X 100PRE (No. 165).

Un Verano Sin Ti saw 22 of its 23 songs debut on the Hot 100 concurrent with the album’s release (the one album track that didn’t debut had already hit the list in 2019).

On the year-end Hot 100 Songs recap, Bad Bunny places seven titles, led by “Me Porto Bonito,” with Chencho Corleone, at No. 20. Fueled by the success of the 24 songs he placed on the Hot 100 during the chart year, Bad Bunny is No. 1 on Hot 100 Artists recap for 2022.

Bad Bunny is additionally 2022’s top male artist for the first time.

It’s Bad Bunny’s first time as the year’s top male.

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts dated November 20, 2021 through November 12, 2022. The rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology details, and the November-November time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate. The Top Artists and Top New Artists categories ranks the best-performing overall acts, and new acts, of the year based on activity on the Billboard 200 album and Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, as well as Billboard Boxscore (touring) data, for the 2022 tracking period.

Bad Bunny Releases Surprise New Single “100 Millones,” Featuring Luar La L

Posted on May 29, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny is giving fans 100 million reasons to dance…

The 27-year-old Puerto Rican rap superstar, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has surprised fans with the release of the new single “100 Millones.”

Bad Bunny dropped the new track at the stroke of midnight, without much fanfare.

With an assist from Luar La L, it’s Bunny’s first release of new material this year, and the followup to single “La Noche De Anoche” with Rosalía, which appeared on his 2020 album El Último Tour del Mundo.

And, there’s more new music on the way.

Bad Bunny stopped by New Music Daily on Apple Music 1 to discuss the new number and his next song “Yonaguni,” which is due out next week.

Luar La L “is so hot right now on the streets in Puerto Rico is killing it,” Bad Bunny told New Music Daily host Zane Lowe. “He has that confidence. He has the energy.”

Of “Yonaguni,” expect a bit of both words. “It’s a balance is what people want,” he explained. “But that’s the idea, make a balance, give the people (what) they want, like the street fire street bang, and also like a chill, sweet rhythm to dance and enjoy for the summer.”

Bad Bunny wrote the song just three weeks ago, not long after her completed his WWE debut. “I was like three months working hard training, learning how to get the bump. How to fight, how to throw the punches,” he said of his time in the ring. “But I enjoyed it a lot. It was a dream come true. I was like a kid.”

Bad Bunny is in red-hot form. He won four categories at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards last weekend, including top Latin artist for the second year in a row, and performed “Te Deseo lo Mejor” on the night. The song is lifted from El Último Tour Del Mundo, which made history last year as the first all-Spanish-language album to hit No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.

It was his second record-setting feat in the same calendar year. Earlier in 2020, his album YHLQMDLG opened at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, for what was then the highest charting all-Spanish-language title on the chart.

Bad Bunny Graces Cover of W Magazine’s Music Issue

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s Bad Bunny for the W… W magazine cover, that is…

The 27-year-old Puerto Rican rapper, singer and songwriter graces the cover of W Magazine’s Music Issue.

“@badbunnypr is no stranger to playing different characters, in fact it’s one of the (many) things that keeps the world watching him,” writes the magazine in its Instagram post about their cover subject. “Last year, the rapper made waves for performing drag in his music video for ‘Yo Perreo Sola,’ in which he dressed in head-to-toe red latex, complete with dripping jewelry and stiletto boots. But underneath it all, the artist, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio remains a country boy from Puerto Rico’s northern coast, a laid-back beach kid who will roll into an industry party in board shorts and flip-flops.”

The Grammy winner, who worked overtime during the coronavirus pandemic to release three new albums and become 2020’s most streamed artist on Spotify, spoke with Abby Aguirre about optimism, his creative process and his upcoming acting roles, including his role in the highly anticipated film, Bullet Train alongside Brad Pitt.

Read the full cover story here.

: Bad Bunny W Magazine Cover Story

: Bad Bunny W Magazine Cover Story

: Bad Bunny W Magazine Cover Story

: Bad Bunny W Magazine Cover Story

: Bad Bunny W Magazine Cover Story

: Bad Bunny W Magazine Cover Story

: Bad Bunny W Magazine Cover Story

: Bad Bunny W Magazine Cover Story

: Bad Bunny W Magazine Cover Story

Bad Bunny to Serve as Musical Guest on Next Week’s Episode of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”

Posted on February 14, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny is preparing for a late night first…

The 26-year-old Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton singer will make his debut appearance as an in-person musical guest at Studio 8H during next weekend’s episode of NBC’s Saturday Night Live.

Bad Bunny will be the musical guest opposite opposite host Regé-Jean Page, one of the breakout stars of Netflix’s Bridgerton, on February 20.

Bad Bunny had previously appeared in a remote-production of the NBC show last April alongside Keenan Thompson.

Bad Bunny (born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) had a busy 2020, including making history on the Billboard 200. The rapper earned his first No. 1 on the chart with El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo, which became the first all-Spanish-language album to reach the peak position in the chart’s 64-year-history.

The album was also Bad Bunny’s third studio album of 2020, which also included YHLQMDLG — released in February and peaked at No. 2 — and Las Que No Iban a Salir from May.

Bad Bunny has collaborated with the likes of Cardi B and Drake, and he performed at last year’s Super Bowl halftime show alongside Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.

Bad Bunny Leads Billboard’s Top Latin Artists Chart for Second Straight Year

Posted on December 6, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Make that two in a row for Bad Bunny…

Billboard has released its 2020 year-end Top Latin Artists chart, with the 26-year-old Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton singer-songwriter coming in at No. 1 for the second consecutive year.

Bad Bunny also ranks as the Top Male Artist.

Bad Bunny notched a field-dominating 41 charting songs on the airplay-, streaming- and digital sales-blended Hot Latin Songs chart during the tracking year (five of them spent time at No. 1, seeding a booming closing year for the artist whose full name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio). Plus, on the Top Latin Albums chart, he spent 45 weeks at No. 1 during the chart year with three different No. 1 albums.

J Balvin is the runner-up on the year-end Top Latin Artists chart, Ozuna comes in third place, while Anuel AA, Sech and Maluma are Nos. 4-6, respectively. The male reggaetón brigade in the top 10 is closed by Myke Towers at No. 10.

Karol G leads the female flock closing as the Top Female Artist for a second year in a row (and the only woman in the year-end top 10).

The 29-year-old Colombian singer and songwriter comes in as the No. 8 artist; she was No. 9 in 2019. (Shakira was the lone woman in the top 10 in 2018 and 2017.)

Karol G was the only female act who mostly records in Spanish to reach No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart during the 2020 chart year. She topped the list with “Tusa,” a collaboration with hip-hop superstar Nicki Minaj, which led the list for four weeks.

Newcomer Natanael Cano earns the No. 7 spot on the Top Latin Artists chart (he’s also the Top New Artist).

The 19-year-old Mexican musician’s year-end finish was aided by his seven charting hits on the Hot Latin Songs chart during the chart year, along with his album Corridos Tumbados spending half of the year locked in the weekly top 10 of the Top Latin Albums chart, placing him as one of the trailblazers of the corridos tumbados squad.

Eslabon Armado is the Top Duo/Group.

The Mexican group’s debut album Tu Veneno Mortal arrived in the top 10 on the weekly Top Latin Albums chart dated May 16 (peaking at No. 7 in July), and then, just a few months later, the teenage trio’s second album, Vibras de Noche, bowed at No. 1 (Aug. 1). It was the second title by a regional Mexican act to open at No. 1 in 2020, and earned the year’s biggest week — at that point — for a regional Mexican album in terms of equivalent album units. The Pedro Tovar-led ensemble leads the year-end Top Latin Artists – Duo/Group ranking.

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts dated November 23, 2019, through November 14, 2020. The rankings for Nielsen Music/MRC Data-based year-end recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology detail, and the November-November time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Nielsen Music/MRC Data.

Bad Bunny to Make Acting Debut on Season Three of Netflix’s “Narcos: Mexico”

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny’s ready to make his acting debut…

The 26-year-old Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton singer, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has joined the Season 3 cast of Netflix’s series Narcos: Mexico.

Bad Bunny joins a roster of cast additions that includes Luis Gerardo Méndez, Alberto Guerra and Luisa Rubino.

Bad Bunny will guest star as Arturo “Kitty” Paez, a member of Ramon Arellano Felix’s gang called the “Narco Juniors” – rich, well connected kids from upper society who fell in with the cartel life for the money, drugs and violence.

Méndez will play Victor Tapia, a Juarez cop with a moral dilemma; despite his
misgivings over getting involved, he is drawn into the mystery of a series of brutal killings

Guerra is Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, an independent drug trafficker, whose unassuming manner belies the fact that he is quietly one step ahead of everyone else

Rubino will be Andrea Nuñez, a young idealistic and ambitious journalist, whose mission to expose corruption brings her an even bigger story than she anticipated

Additional new cast series regulars include: Alejandro Furth as Ramon Salgado, Lorenzo Ferro as Alex Hodoyan, José Zúñiga as General Rebollo, Diego Calva as Arturo Beltran Leyva, Kristen Lee Gutoskie as Dani, Beau Mirchoff as Steve Sheridan.

Additional new guest stars include: Yessica Borroto as Marta, Damayanti Quintanar as Hortencia, Manuel Uriza as Carlos Hank Gonzalez and Markin López as Rogelio

Returning regular cast members are Scoot McNairy, José María Yázpik, Alfonso Dosal, Mayra Hermosillo, Matt Letscher, Manuel Masalva, Alejandro Edda, Gorka Lasaosa. Returning guest star is Alberto Ammann.

Set in the 1990s, when the globalization of the drug business ignites, Season 3 examines the war that breaks out after Felix’s empire splinters. As newly independent cartels struggle to survive political upheaval and escalating violence, a new generation of Mexican kingpins emerge. But in this war, truth is the first casualty – and every arrest, murder and take-down only pushes real victory further away.

Directors are Andrés Baiz, Alejandra Márquez Abella, Luis Ortega, Amat Escalante and Wagner Moura. Production company is Gaumont.

A premiere date for Narcos: Mexico Season 3 has not been announced.

Bad Bunny Partners with Cheetos for “Deja Tu Huella” Campaign

Posted on October 27, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny’s making his (orange) mark…

Over the weekend, videos of the 26-year-old Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton singer filming in the streets of California’s Boyle Heights in flooded social media. He was spotted by fans doing various takes for an upcoming Cheetos commercial, and the cat was out of the bag. “I wasn’t expecting that,” he tells Billboard by phone. “The word got around and it was like a sold-out concert,” he jokes.

After teaming up with various brands this year including Crocs, Bad Bunny has now joined forces with Cheetos for its “Deja Tu Huella” campaign — a new multi-platform initiative designed to rally the next generation to leave their mark in their culture.

“This initiative is important because it’s the union of two brands, the commercials are amazing, and it’s an encouragement for the Latin community,” says Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio. “I feel proud because we are using our tools and the motivation to invite Latinos to leave their mark in what they love and to reach their goals whether it’s in music, sports, or the arts.”

Through “Deja Tu Huella,” Cheetos wants to celebrate and help lift up the Latino community.

“I’m leaving my mark in many ways,” Bunny continues. “For me, it’s important to leave my mark with my creations in music but also as a human being. My music has traveled far around the world and 100 percent in Spanish with my Puerto Rican slang. Wherever I go, in every interview, I let everyone know that I am Latino and Puerto Rican and I think that I have left that mark well placed in the whole world.”

But the partnership is more than just a campaign.

Cheetos, in collaboration with the singer’s Good Bunny Foundation, is giving back to the Hispanic community with a $500,000 commitment. This complements the recently announced PepsiCo and PepsiCo Foundation commitment to the Latino community with $170 million in support over five years to further build on its long-standing efforts to address racial inequality and create opportunity, according to an official press statement.

“It’s undeniable that Hispanic culture has shaped American pop culture. And it’s that culture that has inspired much of Cheetos initiatives in food, fashion, and entertainment,” said Marissa Solis, svp of marketing, Frito-Lay North America, in a statement. “On the heels of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re proud to kick off a campaign that pays tribute to the Latinos who are pushing boundaries and rewriting the rules. And, we’ll have a lot of fun along the way when we see what Mr. Bunny and Mr. Chester has a store for fans this November.”

The Bad Bunny and Cheetos collaboration will be unveiled on Sunday, November 22 during the 2020 American Music Awards, where he’s a four-time nominee. As part of the AMAs partnership, Cheetos is also sponsoring the expansion of the Latin award categories including favorite male artist, favorite female artist, favorite album, and favorite song.

As for the “Yo Perreo Sola” singer’s favorite Cheetos flavor? “I like the ‘Flamin’ Hot Limón’ the most,” he concludes.

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

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