Bad Bunny Sheds Light on the Issues Crippling Puerto Rico in New Music ‘El Apagón’

Bad Bunny is taking a stand and bringing awareness to the issues crippling the island of Puerto Rico.

And, of course, what better way to captivate viewers than to include these major topics in his latest music video for “El Apagón.”

The Puerto Rican megastar’s record title stems from the continuous blackouts that have plagued Puerto Ricans, especially after Hurricane María struck now over five years ago.

For the first four minutes of the music video, Bad Bunny incorporated creative visuals highlighting the beauty of Puerto Rico. The mood quickly went from a good time to an immediate call to action.

Independent journalist Bianca Graulau takes over for “Aquí Vive Gente” (“People Live Here”), a short yet detailed and in-depth documentary. Graulau shed light on the gentrification happening on the island, the corruption that has ensued on a government level, and how Puerto Ricans are being forced out of their homes by wealthy outsiders who are coming to catch a major tax break.

She detailed how these laws impact the livelihood of locals —  one woman she interviews named Maricusa Hernández reads from an eviction letter she received after the building in Santurce where she had lived in for 26 years was sold to a property management company that’s reselling it for $1.5 million. “They’re displacing boricuas to become rich,” Hernández says in the documentary.

Bad Bunny directly addressed these issues in “El Apagón.” He cedes the end of the track to his partner Gabriela Berlingeri, who sings “Yo no me quiero ir de aquí… Lo que me pertenece se lo quedan ellos… Esta es mi playa, este es mi sol… Esta es mi tierra, esta soy yo” (“I don’t want to leave… They take what belongs to me… This is my beach, this is my sun… This is my land, this is me.”)