What has Bad Bunny done for Hispanics? Rapper used his popularity to stand up for social issues

Bad Bunny (aka Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) went from someone who would post songs on SoundCloud to the most streamed artist on Spotify for three consecutive years within a span of just three years. First spotted by producer DJ Luian in 2016, Bad Bunny's popularity quickly escalated with tracks like Soy Peor, and he went on to collaborate with juggernauts like Drake and Cardi B.

After getting nominated three times, the singer finally won his first Grammy in 2021 and followed it up with another in 2023. Bad Bunny's unprecedented success in the music industry can also be attributed to his inclination towards challenging the Hispanic and Latino norms and addressing a myriad of political and social issues through his work.

Bad Bunny's songs speak of the lives of the Latinos and the Hispanic people. His lyrics incorporate their slang and feature various facets of their culture. Moreover, Bad Bunny has also spoken up against the rampant homophobia and toxic masculinity within the Hispanic community and has often challenged gender norms publicly. His Good Bunny Foundation actively seeks to help people in need and works to develop an inclination towards art and music within the people in Puerto Rico.

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How Bad Bunny has used his fame to protest against grave social issues in his community

Bad Bunny (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella)

In his 2020 appearance on The Jimmy Fallon Show, Bad Bunny wore a pink blazer, skirt, and a T-shirt that said "They killed Alexa, not a man in a skirt." The message was in protest of the transgender girl who was brutally murdered in Puerto Rico for having used a woman's bathroom.

The statement and message on his T-shirt caused rampant awareness within his community and was one of the most impactful moments in Bad Bunny's career.

A few months after this moment, Bad Bunny talked about his role when it came to curbing the rampant violence against women. He explained that his message isn't only a feministic one but universal in nature and the singer pledged to do whatever possible to stop violence against women.

The singer's mentality also reflects in his work, as his music has strong feministic undertones. For instance, his song Solo de Mi talks about domestic abuse, and his song Yo Perreo Sola deals with sexual harassment. The 30-year-old also performs in drag attire in the music video.

In a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone, he discussed his drag performance in the music video and explained that it was done to support people who genuinely need it.

“I have always felt like there [was] a part of me that is very feminine. But I never felt as masculine as I did the day I dressed up like a drag queen," the Puerto Rican singer said.

Bad Bunny is also a proud Puerto Rican and doesn't fail to talk about the people in his homeland in his songs or public appearances. His biggest contribution in that regard came in the form of the song Estamos Bien in 2018 which talked about the deadly Hurricane Maria that hit Puerto Rico in 2017.

The fatal hurricane swept the entire nation away and caused approximately $94 billion in damages and more than 3000 lives were lost.

The song became the anthem of the locals when they protested against the government's failure to provide relief on time, resulting in a lack of basic necessities of survival.

In fact, the singer dedicated his 2018 performance of the song on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to the victims of the hurricane. The act started with a video of the unfathomable destruction caused by the storm. Thereafter, the singer explained the greater goal of his performance to the American audience.

"A year later, many are still without electricity in their homes. More than 3,000 people died, and Trump is still in denial. Estamos Bien advocates for Puerto Ricans gathering together to fix their own community, united in their goal of survival despite the federal government’s abandonment," explained Bad Bunny.

The singer also released a 23-minute video for the song El Apagon in 2022 where he summarized all the struggles of his people after the catastrophic hurricane. The video talked about issues like beach privatization, the backfire of Law 22, the gentrification of San Juan, and a barrage of other issues.

Finally, the rapper set up the Good Bunny Foundation to inculcate the development of music and other performing arts among the natives and youngsters of Puerto Rico.

The organization incessantly seeks to work with the natives and motivate them to take up music and other arts and make a living out of it. Furthermore, it has made several donations to organizations in Puerto Rico for a multitude of causes.