Los Angeles is officially joining the Bad Bunny bandwagon.
The City Council has declared October 1, 2022 Bad Bunny Day in Los Angeles (they voted to approve the resolution earlier in the week). This makes L.A. the second city in the U.S. to declare a Bad Bunny Day, following Boston.
For those not yet in the know, Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is a Puerto Rican reggaeton rapper and singer currently sitting at the top of global music charts and social media trends. So why the attention from City Hall now? El conejo malo brought the “World’s Hottest Tour” all over the U.S. this summer, and his last stop is in Inglewood this weekend.
Both shows are close to sold out, a testament to Bad Bunny’s fan base here, in a city where about half of the population identifies as Latino. Heck, you can find Bad Bunny merch strolling through Santee Alley in downtown and hear his music played across the radio dial.
Councilmember Kevin De León will hand Bad Bunny a certificate right before the singer starts his show on Saturday at SoFi Stadium. Call it an “upgrade to VIP status.”
Bad Bunny rose to fame in 2016, and by 2020 he was the most streamed artist globally on Spotify, with 8.3 billion streams and more than 63 million monthly listeners. He also made history when his El Ultimo Tour del Mundo album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It was the first Spanish-language album to debut at No. 1, breaking a Guinness World Record.
Bad Bunny is also known for his philanthropy. He is one of several celebrities taking hurricane relief into their own hands. Just two days before the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Fiona whipped through Puerto Rico earlier this month, leaving flood damage, blackouts, and communities grieving for the lives lost, again.
In response, Bad Bunny released the music video “El Apagon,” a 22-minute documentary highlighting the aftereffects of the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and the ongoing power shutoffs in Puerto Rico.
And Bad Bunny’s tight schedule hasn’t stopped him from finding other ways to help fellow Puerto Ricans. Concert-goers can now find attached QR codes on their bracelets directing fans to various vetted organizations that support the hardest-hit communities in Puerto Rico.
