‘DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS’: a stellar ode to Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican musician Benito A. Martínez Ocasio, better known by the stage name Bad Bunny, began the new year with the release of his sixth studio album, “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” — which is Spanish for “I Should Have Taken More Photos” — on Jan. 5. The album features 17 tracks, including four collaborations with artists RaiNao, Omar Courtz and Dei V, as well as the groups Chuwi and Los Pleneros de la Cresta.

“DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” follows the comparatively lackluster reception of Ocasio’s 2023 Latin trap album “Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana” and the massive success of his breakout 2022 reggaetón record “Un Verano Sin Ti.” This latest release is a triumphant return to plena, salsa and dembow — Caribbean-originated genres that have shaped Puerto Rican music and guided Ocasio’s rise to stardom. “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” matches and occasionally draws upon the sonic excellence that brought him into the American mainstream with “Un Verano Sin Ti,” while expanding on the rich history that shaped Ocasio’s sound and reviving the musical traditions of Puerto Rico’s past. 

The album received a quick rollout. The standalone single “EL CLúB” was released on Dec. 5, eventually becoming track seven on the record. The album announcement and lead single, “PIToRRO DE COCO,” followed on Dec. 26.

The project was also joined by a series of visual media pieces, including a short film by the same name as the album, released on Jan. 3, and a collection of visualizers for each song. 

The short film, which Ocasio co-directed, depicts the gentrification of Puerto Rico through the narrative of an elderly man and his stop-motion frog companion as they travel through an increasingly non-Puerto Rican landscape. 

Ocasio’s visualizers go beyond the conventional visualizer or lyric video, serving instead as a streaming vehicle-meets-history-lesson highlighting Ocasio’s beloved home country. The videos provide succinct summaries of Puerto Rico’s history, ranging from the earliest days of colonization to the country’s current economic and political struggles. 

Through the visuals, lyrics and promotion of the album, Ocasio cements himself as not only the most ardent admirer of Puerto Rico but also its most vocal defender in the entertainment industry. Songs like “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” and “TURiSTA” highlight his advocacy. 

“HAWAii” is a blunt yet beautiful defense of his homeland against the impending ravages of overtourism and neocolonialism, drawing parallels to similar challenges observed in Hawaii. The lack of subtlety in addressing this topic showcases an admirable level of gutsiness in such lamentation.“TURiSTA” extends this theme by comparing a past relationship to a superficial vacation. In this analogy, Ocasio equates himself to the destination and his former lover to a tourist, who fails to understand the historical suffering embedded in the cultural landscape This echoes the typical woefully under-informed tourist’s relation to Puerto Rico. 

Despite its celebration of traditional Puerto Rico’s sounds, the album is rife with tinges of heartbreak, as seen in tracks like “PIToRRO DE COCO” and “BOKeTE.” “TURiSTA” is just the tip of the iceberg of how Ocasio blends sorrow with broader cultural reflection.

The upbeat and flirty collaborations “WELTiTA,” featuring Chuwi, and “PERFuMITO NUEVO” which features RaiNao, temper the album’s sadder songs with playful energy. These songs showcase a dynamic back-and-forth between Ocasio and his duet partners, reinforcing the album’s mission as an ode to Puerto Rico — a sentiment underscored by the fact that all the featured artists are Puerto Rican-born.

The title track, shortened to “DtMF,” stands out as one of the most memorable songs on the record. Simultaneously rueful, thankful and hopeful, the song memorializes the role of family — both those who remain with us and those who have passed — through the motif of taking photos. The song grapples with how the act of taking a picture has depreciated in sentimental value over time. 

The album closes with “LA MuDANZA,” and its final lines drive home one of Ocasio’s earliest and strongest messages to the world: “Yo soy de P f****n’ R,” which translates to “I am from Puerto f****n’ Rico.” This line, a direct reference to his 2020 track “P FKN R” from the album “YHLQMDLG,” reminds audiences that no matter how much his sound may evolve, his message remains the same. This chant reaffirms that Ocasio belongs to Puerto Rico and that he will continue to proudly claim this identity through his music.

The most impressive aspect of this album’s writing is that a majority of it comes directly from Ocasio. He holds sole writing credit on 14 tracks as well as on the collaboration with Los Pleneros de la Cresta, “CAFé CON RON.” 

In an era where hit songs are often being written by teams as large as 10 or 20 people, it is refreshing to see the pared-down writing team for this album. Moreover, it is a welcome surprise that the cheeky, heartfelt and mournful reflections on the album stem primarily from a single mind — all of which are executed exceptionally well.

“DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” is a significant step up from Ocasio’s previous album, rivaling his most critically acclaimed full-length work. Only time will tell if it will reach the heights of his most successful works to date, but its potential to become a classic is undeniable. With this release, Ocasio has opened 2025 with a highly listenable record that is bound to be quite difficult to beat.

Camille Robinson is an Arts & Entertainment Staff Writer. She can be reached at camilllr@uci.edu

Edited by June Min and Jaheem Conley.

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