Benito’s final test
Bad Bunny has conquered almost everything. The global charts, the Super Bowl, the entire streaming planet. But there is a border that resists it: Brazil.
A country where 75% of what is heard is local music. Where neither he, nor his songs, nor his album were among the most played last year. The land of sertanejo and funk is their last great challenge.
“It is the best time to try to open up a country like Brazil, at a time when it has managed to dominate practically the entire world,” commented Felipe Maia, ethnomusicologist.
Two nights in São Paulo
But something is changing. His first concerts in Brazil, this Friday and Saturday at the Allianz Parque in São Paulo, sold out so quickly that he had to add an extra date. Which also flew.
By mid-afternoon on Friday, the lines were already epic. Brazilian fans mixed with Salvadorans, Colombians, Venezuelans. Many with the iconic jíbaro straw hats.
Official prices ranged from $50 to $210. The resellers were asking for more than 830 for the ticket that same night. More than double the Brazilian monthly minimum wage.
Breaking bubbles
Flávia Durante, a DJ specializing in Latin music in São Paulo, explains the initial resistance:
“Some Brazilians tend to view Spanish music as cheesy because of the association with Mexican soap operas, but Bad Bunny broke that bubble with his most recent album.”
The Super Bowl effect was nuclear. His plays on Spotify Brazil increased by 426% the week after the show. “Yo Perreo Sola” rose a brutal 2,536%.
During the Rio Carnival, costumes inspired by Bad Bunny were an absolute trend. Nicole Froio, a Colombian-Brazilian writer with two tattoos by the artist (and planning a third), came out wearing a straw hat and plastic tropical plants.
“There is a lot of prejudice around Hispanic music and there were preconceived ideas against him because of his Puerto Rican accent,” Froio said.
The identity question
Here’s the interesting thing: Brazil has a complicated relationship with its Latinidad. Felipe Maia explains it:
“Brazil’s Latin identity exists, but it is diffuse and difficult to grasp due to the variety within the enormous country.”
But Bad Bunny is giving shape to that shared identity. His mention of Brazil during the Super Bowl show – remembering that “America” is the entire continent – did not go unnoticed.
Diogo da Luz, 22-year-old fan before Friday’s concert:
“It reinforces that we are part of this – that we belong. It reinforces that we are one people and that we are very united.”
For Froio, who has been waiting to see him live for six years:
“Bad Bunny represents a Latin resistance.”
And here is perhaps his greatest achievement: while other Latin megastars record in English to conquer markets, he keeps almost all of his music in Spanish.
“For me, there is a great authenticity in their sound that inspires me to be who I am and let others cope with that,” said Froio.
Two nights in São Paulo may not change Brazilian streaming statistics overnight. But they are writing something more important: how cultural community is built when someone refuses to stop being who they are.
