Bad Bunny first began sharing his music on SoundCloud when he was still a college student. In 2016, the popularity of his song “Diles” resulted in calls from producers, which Bad Bunny had to answer while at work in the grocery store.
After he found a manager, Noah Assad, the pair developed a plan to get attention by releasing singles and videos on YouTube instead of trying to sign with major record labels.
In 2017, Bad Bunny was part of a number of successful singles, such as “Pa Ti,” “Loco Pero Millonario,” and “Sensualidad.” His singles success continued in 2018 with the Grammy-nominated “I Like It.” He recorded the song with rapper Cardi B and reggaeton star J Balvin, and it became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 that July.
Bad Bunny’s debut album X 100PRE came out on Christmas Eve 2018. It climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart. The record showcases Bad Bunny’s skills in multiple music genres, which provided a way for him to both cope with his success and demonstrate his abilities. X 100PRE received a Latin Grammy for Best Urban Music Album and became diamond-certified by May 2019.
The next month, Bad Bunny released another collaboration with J Balvin: an EP called Oasis. It earned a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Rock, Urban, or Alternative Album.
Bad Bunny performed at the 2020 Super Bowl halftime with Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, and J Balvin. On Leap Day of that year, he released a reggaeton album, YHLQMDLG (Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana, which translates to “I do whatever I want”). It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The diamond-certified album also won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop or Urban Album, which Bad Bunny dubbed his “gringo Grammy.”
In May 2020, another Bad Bunny album, Las Que No Iban a Salir, arrived. Its 10 tracks include outtakes from previous recording sessions. Later that year his single “Dakiti” had a No. 1 debut on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs and spent 27 weeks at the top of the chart. On Thanksgiving 2020, Bad Bunny released his third album of the year, El Último Tour del Mundo. It became the first all-Spanish album to launch at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and won Best Música Urbana Album at the 2022 Grammys.
Spotify declared Bad Bunny the Artist of the Year in December 2020. His music had more than 8 billion streams on the platform.
In a 2021 interview, Bad Bunny said, “I’m pleased that we are in a time where I don’t need to change anything about myself—not my musical style, not my language, not my culture—to go far. That doesn’t mean I’ll never sing in English. I already sang in Japanese, so maybe one day I’ll sing in English. It feels great to do things my way.”
The song Bad Bunny sang in Japanese was 2021’s “Yonaguni,” which became his first solo top 10 hit on the Hot 100 after numerous collaborative efforts. Bad Bunny’s musical collaborators include Nicki Minaj, Ricky Martin, Daddy Yankee, Ñengo Flow, Jowell y Randy, Ozuna, Enrique Iglesias, Drake, Maluma, Karol G, Rosalía, Marc Anthony, and Will Smith.
Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny’s fourth studio album, came out in May 2022. Like El Ultimo Tour before it, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, spending 13 weeks at the top, and won the Grammy for Best Música Urbana Album. Un Verano Sin Ti was also Bad Bunny’s sixth consecutive release to reach No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart. The hit record also broke new ground for the artist and the Recording Academy, earning a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. It was Bad Bunny’s first nod in the category and the first time a Spanish-language album was competing for the top honor.
New Album
In late September 2023, Bad Bunny released the reggaeton single “Un Preview,” calling it possibly the “last song” he would release this year and “a small preview of what is coming next year.” But two weeks later, he announced he would release his fifth studio album on October 13. His corresponding Instagram post was captioned “the most anticipated day by many has arrived.”
His new album is titled Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, which translates to “nobody knows what will happen tomorrow.” Bad Bunny had previously hinted at the album’s title, featuring a billboard displaying the phrase nadie sabe… at the end of the music video for his song “Where She Goes.” Additionally, Spotify billboards featuring the words nadie sabe si será este año o el próximo, or no one knows if it will be this year or next, started appearing in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina in early October 2023.
