Bad Bunny: Tiny Desk Concert

Anamaria Sayre | April 7, 2025
For a moment, Bad Bunny forgot that he wasn’t in Puerto Rico. Despite its residence in a news building in the capital of the United States, the Tiny Desk can — when colored by the careful vision of a true artist — take you anywhere else, especially the true origins of the music.

But for the superstar, Puerto Rico is so beloved and so sacred that he could never truly forget it… and he’s making sure the world sees that, too. The island is his source of inspiration and the mandate for which he wages war. Flanked by cuatros and congas, Bad Bunny wields the power of Puerto Ricans who have strummed chords and hummed lelolai for generations in efforts to keep the culture alive.

After performing “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” San Benito tells a parable about a man drawn to his band rehearsing outside the White House. “It’s incredible,” the man in the story says, “that after a hundred years of colonization you keep your culture, your language, your tongue, your slang.”

The Puerto Rican flag laid out before him shines; its brilliant blue is defiant and captivating. “They killed people for waving the flag,” Bad Bunny sings in “LA MuDANZA.” But there’s such joy in the expression and such vibrance in the dance. Even with his global platform, Benito’s true magic is intimacy: He wants you to fall in love with Puerto Rico. We scream with him: “Yo soy de P f****** R!” Whether you are you aren’t, your heart won’t know the difference.

SET LIST
“PIToRRO DE COCO”
“VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR”
“KLOuFRENS”
“LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii”
“LA MuDANZA”

MUSICIANS
Bad Bunny: vocals
Luis Sanz: cuatro puertorriqueño, tiple, bordonúa, background vocals
Fabiola Méndez: cuatro puertorriqueño, tiple, bordonúa, background vocals
Emanuel Santana: güicharo, Pandero de plena, maracas, background vocals
Julito Gastón: congas
Krystal Santana: bass, background vocals
Luis Amed Irizarry: piano
Jay Anthony: bongos, percussion

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Anamaria Sayre
Director/Editor: Kara Frame
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Keren Carrión, Zayrha Rodriguez
Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai
Production Assistants: Ashley Pointer, Dora Levite
Photographer: Virginia Lozano
Tiny Desk Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

#tinydesk #nprmusic #badbunny