Bad Bunny’s new album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, was truly the Three Kings Day gift for the ages. I’m certain it was released purposefully on such a momentous Latino holiday. (Mission achieved!)
Between the rhythms and lyrics, referencing everything from “Le-lo-lai” to “Jacinto” and “Un Verano en Nueva York,” to the comparison of Puerto Rico and Hawaii, to utilizing traditional music and instruments like the plena and guiro, to the very album title of “I Should’ve Taken More Photos,” Bad Bunny speaks to my heart and soul, and experience growing up as a Puertorriqueña on the mainland, who was born on the island.

I was moved to tears by a few of the songs, especially La Mudanza, where he thanked his parents, and Pitorro de Coco, where the guiro and Christmas music with le lo lai is featured and he mentions playing dominoes with the Abuelos. It totally took me back to being with my grandparents when we would all gather for the holidays and play music, which has not happened again since their passing.

This album has a very special connection to the work that my mother, LuzSelenia Salas, has done in photographing the Puerto Rican and Latino communities for over 50 years. Not a day has gone by without she reminding me to take photos, and recalling how important documenting our lives is, which is how the tradition of photography passed on to me and my son, to have reached 3 generations of photographers.


Mom named her photography Momentos by Luz because momentos capture invaluable moments in time that cannot be repeated, which is what makes them so valuable. So often we are the ones who people look to when they want to honor someone, especially for funerals, when we want to remember that person as they have lived. I believe that living life to the fullest without regret is one of the major messages of this album that we should all take to heart.


In 2019 I had the rare fortune to have one of those living-life-to-the-fullest moments when I visited the island with my mother, who was also born in Puerto Rico, and my daughter, Bianca Rodriguez, who was born in Pennsylvania. I hadn’t been back to the island in decades and it was my daughter’s first time visiting. As our 3 generations visited the island together the experience was transformative.


Connecting our daily lives from the diaspora with physically seeing and touching where our roots and traditions originated was a life-altering experience. To witness where my mother was born and have her recount places we lived and our ties to the land and places I had only seen in photographs before, such as the story about me being swept out to the sea when a huge wave hit my father on a beach in Aguadilla, or the sugar cane fields we lived by where I’d roam visiting the neighbors, was magical. We also visited her family, friends, and artists she has worked with over the years who welcomed us into their homes, showed us their artistry work and dances, and told us their own histories. This lit a spark and passion for our heritage in both, my daughter and me, which would not have held the same weight without my mother being there to make the connections.


We also explored places and participated with activities like atv’ing on the beach, driving around the entire island from town to town where many places were still impacted by Hurricane Maria, visiting the sister-school of the high school my daughter was attending at the time, and stopping at all the instagram-hot-spots, which my mother would have not been exposed to if all of us had not been together for this intergenerational experience.


We returned from that trip with a deeper appreciation, understanding, love, and bond with our island and one another, which translated into us getting even more involved in our community at home, and visiting again in 2022 together. In fact, our family does not do gifts for the holidays anymore. Instead, we go on family trips together to spend time with one another, because experiences and moments together are irreplaceable.


After returning from Puerto Rico in 2022, I took on the role of President for the National Conference of Puerto Rican Women (NACOPRW), Philadelphia Chapter, in which the two trips with the intergenerational effect (along with my exposure to community service over the years) drove my intent and passion to try to recreate that passion and understanding for others to have similar experiences and appreciation for Puerto Rico here on the mainland and in the island. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to visit the island, especially with generations of families. This is why music and messaging like Bad Bunny’s, which educate and inspire our people, are so important for keeping our culture alive and realizing the importance of the island of Puerto Rico.

I believe Bad Bunny is aiming to achieve an intergenerational impact with his album by incorporating historical, cultural, and iconic references to pass them onto the mainstream, like pitorro, which is a distilled liquor from Puerto Rico that’s often called «moonshine rum», (you had to be a native from the island/culture to KNOW what that was before now); or Toñita’s (a social club in New York where people coming from the island would feel at home sharing with others from the island); or “Lelolai», a traditional Puerto Rican refrain that appears in rural songs and Christmas carols; or “Jacinto”, which refers to the legend of el Pozo de Jacinto in Isabela. There are so many layers of messaging within the lyrics and also the accompanying campaigns, such as the release date being on Three King’s Day eve, the Concho toad which is going extinct due to a non-native species, being symbolic of what is happening to Puerto Rican culture and land with gentrification and climate change. Also, establishing resident-only tickets for his next series of concerts of summer, and pricing them according to a residency in Puerto Rico, that sold out in 4 hours, is bringing in millions of much-needed supports for the island. Add to that the videos that are geared to the young, which my daughter had to explain to me because I didn’t even realize that was a thing! Likewise, I had to explain certain parts of the songs and dichos to her, and similarly, my mother explained various things to us. Intergenerational! Passing on the cultura down, up, and outward throughout the world!

I cannot personally remember someone of such stature, who is so young, taking a stand like this for Puerto Rico. Bad Bunny truly loves his island and the people which shows up any time he speaks or performs, which he also is unapologetic about doing only in Spanish!
To hear someone as famous as Bad Bunny resonate what I’ve heard all my life, and to be so wise at such a young age, is incredible. To witness this 30-year-old young Latino man, who is just about the age of my sons, use his platform and influence to uplift his people and homeland gives me great hope for our future, He is reaching the younger generations with his messaging and educating them through his words and actions with inspiration about how we all can and should be involved in protecting our culture, land, and traditions.

Bad Bunny has truly put on display who he is as an artist and person for all of us to witness. While there are still a few songs that are the typical perreo music he’s been known for, this album shows so much growth as an artist and human being, a man determined to make a positive difference in the world, and people are loving it, the world over and myself included. ¡GRACIAS, Benito!
Some of the notable achievements of DtMF Album up to date:
- BAILE INoLVIDABLE hit the #1 song in the world on apple music
- First Latin Artist to score 100 Billboard Hot 100 Hits
- Five simultaneous Global 200 top 10s
- No. 1 on the U.S.-based Billboard 200 albums chart
- Over half of the top 10 tracks on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Global Chart
- BAILE INoLVIDABLE being the first salsa song in history to reach #1 on Apple Music
- Residency combined with hotel packages in Puerto Rico instead of the US Mainland with resident-only access and pricing drumming up millions for the economy.
- Concert tickets sold out in 4 hours!
- Short film featuring legendary Puerto Rican filmmaker Jacobo Morales
- 4th album highlights with Jimmy Fallon
*LuzSelenia Loeb, President of NACOPRW Greater Philadelphia