"Aqui mataron gente por sacar la bandera / Por eso es que ahora yo la llevo donde quiera. (Here they killed people for taking out the flag / that's why I bring it anywhere I want now.)"-LA MuDANZA Global superstar Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, like many other Puerto Ricans, has lived a life marked by public crises-blackouts, hurricanes, political corruption and oppression, among others-that have exposed the ongoing impacts of colonialism in Puerto Rico. Offering a portrait of the past and future of Puerto Rican resistance through one of its loudest and proudest voices, P FKN R draws on interviews with musicians, politicians, and journalists as well as ethnographic research to set Bad Bunny and Puerto Rican resistance in an historical, political, and cultural context. Authors Vanessa Diaz and Petra Rivera-Rideau - creators of the "Bad Bunny Syllabus" - demonstrate Bad Bunny's place in a long tradition of infusing joy and protest into music and honor the many, evolving forms of daily resistance to oppression and colonialism that are part of Puerto Rican life.
Vanessa Diaz is Associate Professor of Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies at Loyola Marymount University and the author of Manufacturing Celebrity: Latino Paparazzi and Women Reporters in Hollywood. Petra R. Rivera-Rideau is Associate Professor of American Studies at Wellesley College and the author of Remixing Reggaeton: The Cultural Politics of Race in Puerto Rico and Fitness Fiesta!: Selling Latinx Culture through Zumba.
Introduction. "?Quien Tu Eres?": Understanding Bad Bunny and Resistance in Puerto Rico 1 1. Las Cosas Estan Empeorando: Puerto Rico in the Era of "Soy Peor" 14 2.?"Estamos Bien"? Hurricane Maria and Unnatural Disaster in Puerto Rico 37 3. "El Pueblo No Aguanta Mas Injusticia": Bad Bunny and el Verano Boricua 59 4. "?Por Que No Puedo Ser Asi?": Bad Bunny and Gender Politics 80 5. "El Mundo es Mio": Bad Bunny Beyond el Borinquen 107 6. "Puerto Rico Esta Bien Cabron": The Party Is the Protest 129 7. Singing in Non-English: Bad Bunny Lost in Translation 156 8. "Nunca Antes Hubo Uno Como Yo": Bad Bunny, Coachella, and Latino Belonging in the United States 179 9. "Prende una Velita": Continued Hope, Continued Resistance 200 Conclusion. "Seguimos Aqui" 220 Acknowledgments 231 Notes 235 Bibliography 287 Index
"Impressively researched and engaging, P FKN R is a book that offers a critical reflection of Puerto Rico's history and culture through one of its main exponents, Bad Bunny. The book uses the figure of Bad Bunny to explore Puerto Rico's colonial history and present. Diaz and Rivera-Rideau critically examine his takes on race and gender in a way that is not only about the singer's life and career, but about the recent history of Puerto Rico." - Jorell Melendez-Badillo, author of Puerto Rico: A National History "In P FKN R, Diaz and Rivera-Rideau enlist Bad Bunny's art to expose the layered crises facing Puerto Rico and their roots in U.S. colonial rule. Drawing on interviews with artists, producers, and industry insiders, they show how he transforms grief and pride into a sonic archive of resistance. The result is a powerful meditation on the stakes of his artistry, his platform, and the future he dares us to imagine." - Yarimar Bonilla, author of Non-Sovereign Futures: French Caribbean Politics in the Wake of DIsenchantment
