Opinion: At Coachella, Bad Bunny stays true to himself
A dozen rows from Coachella’s major stage, I sat on the grass hugging my knees to my chest as strangers pressed up in opposition to me, all awaiting the primary Latin music act to ever headline the pageant: Dangerous Bunny.
I used to be filled with the Puerto Rican famous person’s most devoted Coachella followers, prepared to endure two hours of bodily contortions from the tip of the previous act to the beginning of his efficiency for close-up views of Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio. I used to be having second ideas concerning the bodily sacrifice, however we had been so tightly packed it will have been not possible to flee.
It was my first time at Coachella. I’d at all times seen the pageant as too expensive and company. However this lineup was attention-grabbing to me, essentially the most numerous in its two-decade historical past, topped by a political icon from my mom’s island. I’d include two of my greatest associates; we’d awoken on the campgrounds that morning to a lady loudly mistranslating Dangerous Bunny’s lyrics.
Opinion Columnist
Jean Guerrero
Jean Guerrero is the writer, most just lately, of “Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump and the White Nationalist Agenda.”
I used to be by no means a fan of reggaeton till I heard Dangerous Bunny’s political songs. “El Apagón,” about Puerto Rico’s ongoing blackouts, colonial standing and about how all people needs to be Latino however they lack sazón (a spice mix my abuelita at all times makes use of), lit a Boricua pleasure in me, which will be onerous to maintain in California, the place solely 0.6% of individuals are Puerto Rican and most know little concerning the U.S. colony.
Like many followers, I used to be curious to see how political he’d get. There have been rumors that he’s relationship Kendall Jenner, who’s seen by some folks as a queen of cultural appropriation. It fueled hypothesis that he may abandon anti-colonial activism and lose contact with Puerto Rico now that he owns a mansion in L.A. and is a mega-celebrity.
Awaiting his set, I chatted with others within the crowd. One particular person I met, Vivian Gomez, 37, a Mexican American resident of Orange County, advised me Dangerous Bunny opened her eyes to Puerto Rico’s plight. “I didn’t know there have been colonizers taking up and pushing out Puerto Ricans,” she stated.
She sees parallels between the displacement proven in his “El Apagón: Aqui Vive Gente” documentary-music video and gentrification in Mexico, the place she was born. She hopes Dangerous Bunny’s artistry conjures up folks to respect Latin America and its folks. “We’ve got much more to supply than simply bocaditos and tacos and tequila,” she stated.
Others round us weren’t as enthusiastic about politics. Behind me, Isaac Guerra, 20, a Mexican American in a Dangerous Bunny T-shirt, advised me he’s all concerning the beat. “It makes you need to simply begin dancing, you realize?” He additionally likes the singer’s trend, which defies gender norms. “I wouldn’t usually gown like him, however I believe it’s actually dope.”
Dangerous Bunny has turn into the world’s most-streamed artist, adored even by non-Spanish audio system due to his catchy rhythms, boundary-blurring authenticity and extra. One other fan I talked to was Quincie Onyejekwe, 34, from Nigeria. “I do not know what he’s saying, however I’m vibing,” she advised me. “As he sings, you are feeling what he’s singing.” He provides her hope for different non-Anglo headliners from the world over. “He’s displaying you could sing in your individual language and folks can nonetheless vibe.”
Round 11:30 p.m., Benito’s voice washed over the gang, which erupted in ecstasy. In a sultry tone, he gave an ode to Coachella as a spot of first kisses, of first getaways, of discovering ourselves and the solutions to our questions. He reveled within the significance of the second: the primary time a Spanish-language artist has headlined right here. “De tantas y tantos, nunca antes hubo uno como yo,” he stated, to screams.
Instantly he appeared, his luxurious colourful puffer jacket exposing his tattooed chest. Your complete crowd was up dancing, electrified and singing alongside to “Tití Me Preguntó.” Most individuals appeared to know each phrase. A lump shaped in my throat as I recalled rising up on the peak of English-only nativism and attending a grade faculty that forbade talking Spanish, my native language.
Briefly, he spoke English. “I need to know somethin’ earlier than I preserve going with me present — with my present.” He paused. “What do you like? Me talkin’ in English o hablando en español?” Folks shrieked: “Español!”
Later, Coachella’s big screens confirmed the histories of salsa and reggaeton, born of Black folks resisting oppression within the Caribbean. The staff consulted with Petra R. Rivera-Rideau, writer of “Remixing Reggaetón,” about reggaeton’s historical past. “I’ve been to a variety of reggaeton concert events in my life and I’ve by no means seen a video like that,” she advised me.
Vanessa Diaz, who teaches a Dangerous Bunny course at Loyola Marymount College and created a “Dangerous Bunny Syllabus” with Rivera-Rideau, says the movies present he’s staying true to his roots. “He did that for Puerto Rico,” she stated. “He cares about the truth that the efficiency was being streamed all around the island and each single particular person in Puerto Rico who noticed that was proud and excited and felt represented.”
Ultimately in the course of the present, Dangerous Bunny bought weak, saying he was bewildered by stuff he learn on-line. He reassured us that he knew precisely who he was and his function, which he swore he’d fulfill: “Sé cuál es mi propósito en la tierra y se los juro que lo voy a cumplir.”
What does the Boricua luminary see as his function? He didn’t say. As an alternative, he launched “El Apagón” because the track that fills him with extra pleasure than anything on the earth. He carried out it, and people of us who understood it as the start of his reply went wild.
