Photo Courtesy of New York Times

Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, dropped his recent album “Un Verano Sin Ti” on Friday, May 6. Fans worldwide had anticipated this newly released album after Bad Bunny teased them back in April, after wrapping up his world tour of his previous album “El Último Tour del Mundo,” with a snippet of one of his newest songs, “Me Fui de Vacaciones,” which was posted on TikTok. This time around, Bad Bunny decided to detract from his typical upbeat and energizing Latin trap and Urbano styles of music and show the world his more playful and reggaeton-loving side. Releasing an album with the motif of summer delicately woven through nearly every song in one way or another with summer just around the corner was a brilliant move on the artist’s end, and he plays into the different aspects and emotions of summer.

The Puerto Rican artist got right to it with his first track, “Moscow Mule,” which includes a steelpan intro and birds chirping, making one reminisce of the summertime. Slowly but surely, a lowkey beat comes and stays, almost making it seem like it was Bad Bunny’s way of sprinkling reggaeton into his repertoire as a warmup for this collection. Continuing that story was “Después de la Playa,” which starts off in a way where the vibes are hard to read, but one can still understand that this is lowkey, almost private. Promptly at the 70th second, he turns the song on its head when a salsa/merengue beat is introduced, making one rethink their thoughts about the first part of the song. It truly is enough to make one jump out of their seat and dance with joy.

Bad Bunny goes back on the reggaeton path with the following two tracks, “Me Porto Bonito” and “Tití Me Preguntó.” While the former was overall chill and reserved, the latter compensated by relying on fast-paced rhythms as its main driving force throughout the song, nearly stepping into dancehall territory, which wouldn’t be a first for the artist. “Tití Me Preguntó” can certainly be expected to make several workout playlists this summer.

To change things up, Bad Bunny put in a beat-filled love ballad in the form of “Un Ratito,” talking about love and how it lasts and how he doesn’t “sleep with just anyone” (at least according to the translation of the lyrics). He continues that momentum with “Yo No Soy Celoso,” starting off strumming the guitar but then showing a twisted side to love, talking about jealousy in his lyrics. Most impressive in the delivery of this piece is that he didn’t come off as a disgruntled lover; the tempo was mild and peaceful throughout, so when googling the translation of the lyrics, one can be surprised about the subject matter.

Abandoning that altogether, Bad Bunny goes back to his upbeat Latino hip-hop style with “Tarot” in his team up with Jhay Cortez, another Puerto Rican singer and rapper. Together, the duo created one of the most epic songs on the album, and it’s not a stretch of the imagination to hope for more collabs from the two in the future.

Of the 23 songs on the album, the third-from-last track, which bears the same title as the album itself, deserves to be mentioned. Stylistically, it sounds as far from his usual as one could imagine Bad Bunny to have ever gone. Looking into the lyrics and their translations explained that this is an uncharacteristic departure on the artist’s behalf; he mixes themes of the shining outdoors in summertime while going through heartbreak, which many people can relate to. This provided another layer to Bad Bunny and his music, in his willingness to express the vulnerability in his art. That’s not an easy feat, and in a world that talks more and more about mental health, this is a beautiful showing of heartfelt emotions.

All in all, Bad Bunny’s popularity speaks to his dedication to his music. Spotify reported that this album became the most-streamed album in a single day for this year, and at the same time, Bad Bunny broke the record for being the most-streamed artist in a single day in Spotify history. At an hour and 21 minutes total, it is definitely worth the listen.