Bad Bunny Is Paranoid, Frivolous, Exhausted, Brilliant on ‘Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana’
Fame has the global megastar down. Music makes all the difference for him
Bad Bunny is the most-streamed artist on the planet, a status further highlighted by the fact that his new album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, is certain to make a big appearance at Number One on the Billboard 200 album chart. He’s a fashion symbol, a WWE mainstay, a divine beings gift to both tabloid editors and web rubberneckers. His last album, 2022’s Un Verano Sin Ti, was among his generally mixed to date, incorporating independent luminaries from the universe of Latin pop to both expand the boundaries of reggaeton and (potentially) recommend his impatience with the class’ choking influences. Mega-artist fretfulness is a typical affliction among world-straddling musical titans, and Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana is an artist handling it — and battling it, and transcending it, and blowing it off — in his own unique terms. As always, Benito heads out in a different direction.
Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana may be the first of Bad Bunny’s albums since 2020’s landmark YHLQMDLG where it seems like the eternally ambitious Puerto Rican artist is distinctly fighting with his fame while also playing with his self-mythology. However, where that album was omnidirectionally ecstatic, this one is all the more darkly intelligent. Consider, for instance, the shade-y bars he presents on the opener, “NADIE SABE,” in which he lets us know how tired he is of tattle and assumptions individuals have now that he’s a mega-celeb: “La gente tiene que dejar de ser tan estúpida y pensar/Que conocen la vida de los famoso/Goodness, qué mucho podcast, qué mucho babosos” (“Individuals need to quit being dumb and thinking/They know the existences of famous individuals/Amazing, too many podcasts, an excessive number of fakers”). He knows he’s at the pinnacle of his career — “Ya no estoy en mi peak, ahora estoy en mi prime” (“I’m no longer at my peak, presently I’m thriving”), he raps on “NADIE SABE.”
However, he reliably summons the paranoia that accompanies such achievement. All through the LP, he appears to ask: Who is with him and who is against him? Who really knows him and who claims to? Who’s a real fan versus a fake fan? (“Tú no ere’ mi fan real, por eso te tiré el celular,” he raps on “NADIE SABE,” referring to the infamous telephone tossing episode that surpassed headlines this year.) This includes some significant downfalls, making the album a piece thematically dreary and lacking a portion of the political profundity of past ventures. Be that as it may, it is a resolute look into the VIP mind, and Bad Bunny keeps it savagely genuine. On “THUNDER Y LIGHTNING,” he even lashes out at J Balvin, an artist he collaborated with to assist with building reggaeton’s global reach.
What keeps the album engaging, and certainly worth its 80 or more moment run time, is the actual music, always his solidarity and his safety zone. Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana combats all the big name whatever twirling around him (both real and imagined) with music that marries a rich orchestral extension to beats that see him look back at the Latin-trap establishes from early in his career. All the while, these tunes further his natural ability to twist classes and pop chronicles to his will. The sonic energy is testy and tense at times. He stacks up shrewd, fascinating samples every step of the way: Traces of Madonna’s “Vogue” appear on the trap track “VOU 787″; he flips a touch of the Charles Aznavour classic “Hier Reprise” on “MONACO.” “LOS PITS” has reverberations of Nineties hip-bounce, and while there’s almost zero reggaeton on the album, a couple of homages make it in. A 1996 favorite by the reggaeton veteran Frankie Kid slides into “NO ME QUIERO CASAR,” which also features a Tego Calderon piece. The reggaeton legend also springs up on “FINA.”
The sounds ease up the state of mind, showing Bad Bunny’s ability to tap into the mainstream society general outlook across Latin America. There are references to Lionel Messi and Peruvian talk-show have Laura Bozzo and Puerto Rican heartthrob Jay Wheeler. (Youthful Miko has a Dr. Simi bar on “FINA,” which is interesting, yet additionally of the time.) Toward the finish of the album, Bad Bunny mellow for perhaps of the most heartfelt line on the LP: “Gracia, Dios, por poner en mi camino A Jan, a Noah y a Gabriela” (“Thank you, God, for putting on my path/Jan and Noah and Gabriela”). The verses reference his closest companion and creative collaborator Janothony Oliveras, his manager Noah Assad, and his previous sweetheart Gabriela Berlingeri.
However, while he’s thankful for those three, BAD BUNNY IS for the most part battling things solo on this album. Indeed, even the album art is a sign of approval for the renaissance and durability of the cowpoke figure. (The image also salutes the noticeable quality of música Mexicana, which he has added to with his collabs with Grupo Frontera and Natanael Cano, and it’s an indication of his ability to lock into what’s popular.) The cover shows a figure in blue, hanging on to a kicking mustang. Regardless of whether he’s a lone rider in a hard world, the message is clear: He’s still on top.
