How Bad Bunny’s New Album Addresses Phone Throwing and Other Pitfalls of Fame

Bad Bunny may be the world’s biggest pop star—and he did have more Spotify streams last year than Beyoncé or Taylor Swift. He’s released five studio albums in as many years, including two and a compilation album in 2020 alone. But those accomplishments are just side effects of getting to do what Benito Martínez Ocasio loves most: rapping, singing, reggaetoning, perreando, haciendo lo que le da la gana. They’re not unintended consequences, to be sure, but as he makes clear in his latest album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, he was not expecting this level of fame. Maybe he wanted it at some point—when he released his first studio album in 2018, X 100pre, perhaps. But across 22 tracks that echo with traces of his debut’s rough-around-the-edges trap core, only now with a more jaded, polished bent, Bad Bunny reveals he didn’t realize it would be like this: all-consuming, inescapable, suffocating.

For superstars, this isn’t exactly new. There comes a time in almost every pop star’s career when they have to grapple with the consequences of fame, when the weight of being at the top cuts through their music. We saw it most recently with Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS, specifically in the song “Making the Bed,” in which she sings about the difficulties of rising to fame at such a young age. Billie Eilish did the same on “Getting Older,” the opening track of her sophomore album Happier Than Ever. “Things I once enjoyed just keep me employed now,” she croons about grappling with the underbelly of celebrity.

Bad Bunny has arrived at the same moment. With that position comes an insurmountable amount of scrutiny no matter what. On Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, he states that he’s done caring about what others think of him. Going forward, every decision he’s going to make is for himself.

“You’re not my real fan, that’s why I threw your phone”

In January, Bad Bunny found himself in the center of controversy when a fan was filmed jumping in front of the Latin superstar as he was walking and recorded a selfie video in the midst of some chaos. He took the phone out of her hand and threw it into nearby bushes, upsetting many of his fans and altering his public image. 

The singer addressed the incident on the opening track of the new album, “Nadie Sabe,” singing, “Tú no ere' mi fan real, por eso te tiré el celular / A los reale' por siempre los voy amar.” “You were not my real fan, that’s why I threw the cell phone / The real ones, I’ll always love.” 

It’s not the first time he’s spoken out about the incident. He addressed it in an interview with Rolling Stone, saying, “At the end of the day, I don’t care what people think.” But a speech he gave during his Coachella performance this year showed that he’s getting fed up with people talking about him or his life.

“You’re not going to know me from a video on TikTok, an interview, or what people are saying about me,” he said on stage during one of the biggest festivals in the world. “If you want to get to know me, I’ll invite you over to my house for a beer.” 

Over the years, Bad Bunny’s fans have gotten to know him through his music and he’d like it to stay that way.

“Who the hell said that I want to be an example?”

Bad Bunny has done a lot of good: Alongside the new album, the artist and his record label distributed a newspaper with articles written by journalism students about Puerto Rico’s youth vote, healthcare system, and natural resources. In Feb. 2020, he performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in a shirt that read “they killed Alexa, not a man in a skirt,” condemning the murder of Puerto Rican trans woman Alexa Negrón Luciano. A month later, he dressed in drag in the music video for “Yo Perreo Sola,” a feminist anthem off of his sophomore album. “El Apagón” rails against blackouts on the Puerto Rican power grid, which was recently privatized. And he protested alongside Residente and Ricky Martin to force the resignation of corrupt former Puerto Rican governor Ricky Rosselló.

But on Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana he asks “¿Quién puñeta' dijo que yo quiero ser ejemplo? To' lo bueno que hago, lo hago porque lo siento.” “Who the hell said that I want to be an example? Any of the good that I do, I just do because I want to.”

He takes aim at those who think they know the inner lives of celebrities—and those who crave gossip, relying on podcasts to try to peer behind the curtain and invade their privacy. This record wasn’t made to rack up streams, he says. It’s intended to make his real fans happy, even though he doesn’t feel 100% on the inside. And he knows people will cancel him and hate him for whatever he does—bitter, but true.

“Tú no conoce' a Bad Bunny,” he sings, “tú solo te has retrata'o.” “You don’t know Bad Bunny, you’ve only photographed him.” We don’t know Benito at all, we only know what we’ve speculated and surmised and made up about him. “To's quieren ser número uno, no entiendo el esmero. Si quieres te lo doy, cabrón, yo ni lo quiero.” “Everyone wants to be number one, but I don’t get it. If you want the title, take it, I don’t want it.”

“Nobody knows” 

The six-minute opening track, “Nadie Sabe,” contains the crux of the album’s argument: Nobody knows. Nobody knows what’s going to happen tomorrow—so he might as well enjoy his hard-earned riches and lean into hedonism. 

In this sense, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana feels baroque: dark and rich and extravagant. “Dicen que el mundo va a acabarse,” Bad Bunny sings. “Ojalá que sea pronto.” “They say the world’s going to end. I hope it’ll be soon.”

And from a personal perspective, he sings woefully about how nobody can really know his experience. “Nadie sabe lo que se siente sentirse solo con cien mil pеrsona' al frente. Que dе ti hable toda la gente sin saber un bicho, sin conocerte.” 

“Nobody knows what it feels like to feel alone with a hundred thousand people in front of you Everyone’s talking about you without knowing a thing, without knowing you."