The international success of Latin trap artistes over the last year or so has become nothing short of a pop music phenomenon. Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny has now joined a number of his countrymen in recording a massive world-wide hit. I Like It, a song he co-wrote and performed with American rapper Cardi B and Colombian singer J. Balvin, has reached the top ten in numerous countries and taken pole position on Billboard’s Hot 100.
In so doing, the track gave Bunny and J. Balvin their first Hot 100 chart-topper while it is Cardi’s second number one following Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) which held top spot for three weeks last October.
Cardi has now become the first female rapper with two chart-topping tracks on the Hot 100. Only four others have ever taken pole position. Lauryn Hill in 1998 with Doo Wop (That Thing), Lil Kim, along with Christina Aguilera, Pink and Mya, with Lady Marmalade in 2001, Shawna, as a guest artist on Ludacris’ 2003 track, Stand Up, and Iggy Azalea with Fancy in 2014.
“It’s an amazing experience to be part of a number one song,” said Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio. “I got a taste for it when Cardi’s Invasion of Privacy album topped the Billboard 200. It was great to be part of that. But I was just on the one album track. It feels extra special to have that track become an enormous hit single.
“I’m particularly happy for Cardi who was great to work with. I’ve worked with J. Balvin before and we have a great chemistry together when it comes to making music. I loved the track from the beginning. I knew it was going to be a big hit.
“The producers were already working on I Like It before J. Balvin and I were called in. Even Cardi didn’t know about it. The producers told me it would be a surprise for her. Everything was so natural. Working on it together was a genuine pleasure. It’s so rewarding that the fans obviously enjoy hearing the song as much as we enjoyed making it.”
Still only 24, Bunny has exploded on the Latin trap scene over the last two years. Music insiders say no other performer has ever developed at such speed in the Latino market. In 2017, he appeared on more than a dozen hit tracks and his songs notched up in excess of four billion views on YouTube. He has certainly come a long way from singing on a balcony at school.
“I’m from Vega Baja which is a small beachside area, not a metropolis like San Juan where most Puerto Rican artists come from. I did sing on a balcony at school and people would stand around listening. I always knew I wanted to be a singer since I was five years old. I’ve been writing my own songs since I was 13. Having that audience at school gave me the confidence to know people wanted to hear me.”
DJ Luian certainly wanted to hear him. Bunny earned some cash by working as a supermarket bagger while studying for an Audiovisual Communications degree at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo. He used the money to record his music and uploaded a number of songs to SoundCloud. It was these tracks, a mix of rap and singing, which drew the attention of Luian who signed Bunny to his Hear This Music label.
Luian paired Bunny with a string of major players on the Latin trap scene. Their collaborations proved so popular that he quickly topped the wish list of most wanted guest artists for virtually every established star. But while Bunny’s own music is hugely popular, few of his songs receive substantial radio play.
“A lot of stations have problems with my song lyrics. Many of my songs deal with love and lost love but do so in the rawest form, both good and bad. Those songs are either censored or not played at all. My goal is for trap music to be given the space it deserves in the media without having to be censored.”
Was it writing these kind of songs which made Benito choose Bad Bunny as his stage name?
“It actually came from a photograph of myself when I was a kid. I was a first grader at school and got forced to wear this pair of rabbit ears as the Easter bunny.
“Bunnies are supposed to be cuddly and sweet but I didn’t want to wear those rabbit ears and you can definitely tell how I felt about it when you look at the picture. I was a bad bunny then and I’m Bad Bunny now, it just seemed like a great stage name.”
in brief
NHS Voices
A Bridge Over You, their mash up cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water and Coldplay’s Fix You, gave the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir the 2015 Christmas week chart-topping single in Britain. They beat out Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself with the now newly-engaged Justin actually urging his fans to buy the NHS Choir’s charity single.
To mark the 70th anniversary of Britain’s National Health Service, the NHS Choir have now released their cover of The Beatles’ classic song, With A Little Help From My Friends. It is another charity single with all proceeds being donated to NHS Charities Together, a group of more than 130 NHS charities which support patients, staff and community initiatives.
This time though, the NHS Choir are not alone. The song is credited to NHS Voices because a host of stars from the music world who fully appreciate the work of the NHS are also involved in the project.
British artists might perhaps be expected but some American stars have also been keen to participate. These include superstar singer, rapper, songwriter and producer Timbaland. He co-produced the track along with BRIT Award-winning producer Jon Cohen.
Chic star Nile Rodgers is one of the performers. He feels his appearance on the song is some sort of very small repayment for the help he has received from the NHS.
“It’s my honour to support NHS Voices,” Nile remarked. “The NHS saved my life many times back in the day. It’s a total pleasure for me to be part of the song.”
More than 30 artists perform on the track. These include Rick Astley, Alexandra Burke, Marina and The Diamonds, Seal and Beverley Knight. The With A Little Help From My Friends video can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQS-V9MZtDA
Shakira
It’s been a mixed time for Colombian superstar singer Shakira.
She has made a triumphant return to the concert stage with her El Dorado world tour. This was after fearing that a vascular lesion might have left her unable to ever sing again.
But the house she shares with her Spanish footballer partner Gerard Pique was burgled on the second night of her tour. The thieves stole valuables such as watches and jewellery.
Gerard and his fellow Spanish stars were bundled out of the World Cup by hosts Russia and Shakira’s own Colombia team were beaten by England. To cap it all, an item of merchandise sold at her concerts was withdrawn from sale after complaints that it closely resembled an important Nazi symbol.
The necklace designed to commemorate Shakira’s tour was based on Pre-Columbian imagery. Unfortunately, it is virtually identical to the sun wheel emblem which dominates the floor of the SS Generals Hall in Wewelsburg Castle.
Owned by SS chief Heinrich Himmler, the 17th century three-sided castle was to have become a Nazi version of King Arthur’s Camelot. It is now one of Germany’s most popular tourist attractions with part of the building being converted into a museum devoted to the history of the SS.
Mel B / Lily Allen
One person probably pushing hard for a Spice Girls reunion is singer Melanie Brown. Better known as Mel B, she recently revealed she owes America’s Internal Revenue Service hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes and is unable to pay her debts.
Where all the millions have gone from her days as a Spice Girl is anyone’s guess. She has also been employed as a judge on NBC Television’s America’s Got Talent for the past five years. This job must surely have earned Mel a substantial salary.
Not that Mel’s debts compare to those of singer / songwriter Lily Allen. She informed anyone who would listen that she was more than one million GBP in debt.
Lily gave this information while in the process of promoting her aptly titled latest album, No Shame. Perhaps her revelation was intended to persuade fans to help her out by buying the album. It debuted at number eight on the U.K. chart for June 15 but immediately fell to number 46, then to number 78 in week three and is now out of the top 100.
POPULAR: Bad Bunny, Latin trap artiste, has certainly come a long way from singing on a balcony at school.
