The superstar has bent global pop culture to his will—by refusing to compromise on anything
Bad Bunny wants to be the biggest artist in the world—and he is. Last year, his fifth solo studio album, Un Verano Sin Ti, was Billboard’s top-performing album of the year, beating out Taylor Swift and Harry Styles. He broke the all-time record for tour revenue in a calendar year—with $435 million earned—and was Spotify’s most streamed artist for the third year in a row. But Bad Bunny also wants to just be Benito; to do whatever he wants, or hace lo que le da la gana, as he named his sophomore album. And until this point, it is exactly this mentality that has brought him unprecedented success. Where other musicians reaching for his level of stardom have hidden certain parts of themselves, Benito has refused to compromise: on the language he sings in; the political stances he assumes; the dresses and nail polish he wears. Bad Bunny is perhaps the world’s first reverse crossover artist, whose success comes from a refusal to cater to the mainstream. His stubborn originality, independence, and fiercely local lens have made him a radically new kind of global pop star, etching pathways to success that completely bypass New York or Hollywood industry gatekeepers.
Subscribe now to get unlimited access to TIME.com and more!
“Renewable energy is now the most affordable source of new electricity in much of the country,” says one expert.
Biden made the comments during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's historic visit to the White House.
LBJ warned that public needed to be convinced of the link between racial equity and economic opportunity. His advice rings true today
TIME got exclusive access to developers and artists who have already started using Unreal Engine 5. Here’s what’s under the hood
Also known as the stomach flu, norovirus spreads quickly and is most commonly found in contaminated food.
