Bad Bunny has turned Puerto Rican reggaeton into a global phenomenon worth millions of dollars. Now he is using that stardom to try to change politics on his native island.
The three-time Grammy winner said he is paying for billboards in San Juan that criticize the New Progressive Party, the front-runner in November’s gubernatorial election.. Posters have appeared along the city’s main avenues this week, and one of them reads: “Voting PNP is voting for corruption.”
On his X account, Bad Bunny, or also Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, said that He paid for the campaign because he is “a Puerto Rican who does love Puerto Rico.” Bad Bunny’s representatives at United Talent Agency did not immediately return a call seeking further comment.
The superstar’s high-profile involvement could further complicate an election marked by simmering unrest over the deterioration of Puerto Rico’s power grid. Although Bad Bunny has not yet endorsed any candidate, he has often criticized the two main parties that alternate power on the island.the ruling PNP party and the Popular Democratic Party.
“It’s good to go out on the streets to protest, to let yourself feel like a people, but I think the biggest protest is to go on November 5 to vote against these people,” he told Anthony Cáceres, the Puerto Rican podcaster “El Tony.” Ask” earlier this month.
Polls have shown that PNP candidate Jenniffer González-Colón is leading the race. But his rival, Juan Dalmau of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, has been gaining ground, particularly among young voters frustrated by the island’s slow recovery after Hurricane Maria in 2017.
While Bad Bunny has influenced Puerto Rican politics, he has avoided getting involved in US politics, where he could be a powerful force in influencing Hispanic voters. Three other reggaeton artists, Justin Quiles, Anuel AA and Nicky Jam, have endorsed Donald Trump in recent weeks.
“I’m not getting into politics. “Politics gets into my life because politics affects my country, it affects Puerto Rico,” said Bad Bunny on the “El Tony Question” podcast.
