Bad Bunny Uses Chart Topping Influence to highlight issues Puerto Ricans face

September 21, 2022 Ben Pagani

Bad Bunny is using his influence to spread awareness of the disparities facing Puerto Rican residents as Hurrican Fiona moves north and downpours on the U.S. territory for yet another day.

Bad Bunny released the 22 minute long sequence combining his hit music video for “El Apagón” with the documentary “Aquí Vive Gente” (“People Live Here”), which highlights inequalities that Puerto Ricans face.

On Sunday, Hurricane Fiona made landfall, effectively knocking power out across the island and leaving thousands without water.

The category 4 hurricane kept as many as one-third of Puerto Ricans without utilities as of Wednesday afternoon. Other outages in recent months led to protests against Luma Energy, a private company that took over as the main electric provider of the territory in 2021.

Bad Bunny’s video looks at the range of issues with Puerto Rico’s power grid, which hasn’t fully recovered after the previous disaster created by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Bad Bunny was born in Puerto Rico and released the undisputed top album of the summer earlier this year with the LP Un Verano Sin Ti. The record has sat at the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart for 11 straight weeks.

Bad Bunny’s reach to music fans worldwide can create the influence needed to support Puerto Rican residents left without running water, power and the struggles that will likely linger for the foreseeable future.

Verified resources to support Puerto Rico include:

Taller Salud, a women-led non-profit accepting non-perishable food donations.(accessible in Spanish and English)

Puerto Rican Civic Club, a union of Puerto Rican residents in California fundraising for alternative and eco-friendly energy options for residents of the island.

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Ben Pagani

Music Projects Manager at Beyond The Stage Magazine

Ben is a music journalist living and working in Chicago. They joined Beyond The Stage as an intern and have stayed on the staff for several years. Now serving on the editorial board, Ben is proud to be BTS' Music Projects Manager, coordinating coverage between international record labels and our staff. Ben has interviewed, photographed and written about bands from across the world. Ben has lived all over the United States working in television and media. They are an Emmy Award-winning writer. Ben can be found spinning records as 'DJ Wearing Sunglasses' in clubs and basements across the US.