The music scene has long been dominated by one name: Taylor Swift. Swift has captured the hearts of many with her heartfelt lyrics and catchy melodies. Without a doubt, everyone interested in pop music is familiar with at least one of her songs. In 2024, she made history by winning a Grammy Award for Album of the Year for the fourth time. That same year, her global Eras Tour concluded as the highest-grossing concert tour, earning an astonishing $ 2 billion. Given her 58 nominations and 14 Grammy wins, and her millions of fans, Swift is no stranger to the spotlight. A spotlight many deemed impossible to compete with. That was until none other than Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny came along with his newest album titled: DeBi TiRAR MaS FOToS.  

Benito Antonio Martínez, also known as Bad Bunny, is best recognised for his música urbana (urban music), which combines elements of soul, reggaeton, and rock. His audience has in the past referred to him as “the king of Latin trap”, and at this year’s Grammys, he was nothing short of a King. Bad Bunny became the first Spanish-language recording artist to earn Grammy nominations in the same year for best song, best record, and album of the year. Furthermore, Bad Bunny was crowned Spotify’s top artist globally with 19.8 billion streams. A title Taylor Swift had missed out on marginally, as she claimed 2nd place. However, it would be a lie to claim Bad Bunny has been competing with Taylor Swift all along. 

The start of Bad Bunny’s career was on no other platform than SoundCloud, a site where subscribers can share music. It was through SoundCloud that DJ Luian discovered the young talent back in 2016 and signed him to the label Hear This Music. Nevertheless, even as part of a label, Bad Bunny’s name was not known in the global music scene until he collaborated with Cardi B and J Balvin on “I Like It”, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Following another collaboration, this time with Drake on “Mía”, Bad Bunny released his debut album “X 100PRE”. The title reflects the abbreviation for por siempre (forever). That being said, it was only when his third album, “El último tour del mundo”, became the first Spanish-language album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, that the name Bad Bunny was no longer known solely in the Spanish-speaking music circles. 

What truly shook the world was Bad Bunny’s latest album. The title’s direct translation is “I should have taken more photos” and highlights his heritage – Puerto Rico. The album is far more special beyond its modern salsa rhythm. Through his incorporation of the globally recognised salsa group, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, in the album’s first song “NUEVAYoL”, he pays tribute to the music he’s grown up with. This sense of transparency relating to his heritage is maintained throughout the entire album and gives listeners a sense of authenticity rare in mainstream music nowadays. 

Furthermore, Bad Bunny did not simply record tracks to be listened to; he created songs that had to be heard. The song “TURiSTA” proves to be a sort of heartbreaking analogy about the tourism industry’s catastrophic consequences on the island of Puerto Rico. The line “Tú solo viste lo mejor de mí y no lo que yo sufría” (You only saw the best of me and not how I suffered) displays the urgent need to protect the ethnically rich territories of the island rather than giving in to outside investors to create new development projects, destroying Bad Bunny’s historic motherland. Bad Bunny also draws parallels to Hawaii as he takes the song “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” to argue for Puerto Rico’s right to independence, fearing that as a U.S. territory, a day will come when Puerto Ricans no longer have their beloved Puerto Rico. Such strongly connoted political lyrics are something new for Bad Bunny, but universally praised, as it reflects the consequences of an ever more gentrified world. 

The underlying political messages and the emotionally written lyrics sincerely allow the listener to reflect on the privilege it is to live in a free land where we have the right to our history, heritage and music. Consequently, Bad Bunny has become a name known across the world, and even non-Spanish-speaking folk have enjoyed the rhythmic sounds accompanying his talented voice. Hence, it was no surprise that when his world tour was announced, it quickly sold more than 2.6 million tickets for 54 stadium shows in 18 countries across 4 continents. In Mexico, 4 million fans queued on Ticketmaster for the sale of 8 shows in Mexico City and his shows in 3 Colombian stadiums sold out in less than 24 hours. The shocking, fast pace sell of tickets led to fans starting to question the future of the artist’s career. Will he become the Taylor Swift of Latin America? Though we would have loved to directly compare the two artists, Bad Bunny has taken the political stance to avoid performing in the USA due to the fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Therefore, we will have to wait to see how the artist’s legacy unfolds without a traditional stop in the U.S. and whether it will only reinforce a fanbase built on his devotion to his culture. 

In conclusion, Bad Bunny has not merely matched Taylor Swift’s level of stardom; he has reshaped Puerto Rico’s global reputation through music. The King and Queen of Charts may keep fighting for the number 1 spot, but fans cannot deny that Bad Bunny is giving Taylor a run for her money. It remains no secret that Bad Bunny, much like Taylor Swift, has become the defining voice of a generation. As for the music world as a whole, it has become evident that Bad Bunny’s undeniable authenticity towards his heritage, as told through his unmistakable culturally influenced lyrics, showcases his unique talent to the world. A talent that will continue to tell the cultural richness of a forgotten American colony in the Caribbean.

Disclaimer: This article was entirely human-written without the use of Artificial Intelligence.

Further reading:

• https://newsroom.spotify.com/2025-12-03/wrapped-top-artists-songs-albums-podcasts-audiobooks/
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2023/03/14/more-than-half-of-us-adults-say-theyre-taylor-swift-fans-survey-finds/
• https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/music/a62840222/taylor-swift-grammy-wins/
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bad-Bunny-singer-and-songwriter
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Taylor-Swift
• https://www.npr.org/2025/01/10/nx-s1-5250287/bad-bunny-debi-tirar-mas-fotos-political-puerto-rico
• https://latination.com/bad-bunny-and-taylor-swift-similar