Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti Is Summer’s Swaggering, Flavorful Soundtrack: Review
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The post Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti Is Summer’s Swaggering, Flavorful Soundtrack: Review appeared first on Consequence.
After making history with his last album, Bad Bunny is taking a lawn chair to the beach and basking in his success with his new LP, Un Verano Sin Ti (“A Summer Without You”). Across a whopping 23 tracks, the Puerto Rican superstar celebrates the music of the Caribbean with his signature emo flow. In addition to the usual suspects of reggaeton and Latin trap, he explores influences that include merengue, bomba, and dembow music. He continues to push reggaeton forward with alternative acts like The Marías and Bomba Estéreo, adding touches of Afrobeat and house music in mix. With his most fun and colorful album yet, Bad Bunny is ready for the summer season.
The rapper released a trio of albums in 2020, culminating in El Último Tour Del Mundo making history as the first all-Spanish language album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The pressure was on to see if he could outdo the success of his previous album — but he’s not sweating it.
For Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny recruited Puerto Rican hit-maker Tainy, who was behind the most bombastic tracks on YHLQMDLG, and MAG, the mastermind of El Último Tour Del Mundo’s alternative edge. With the world starting to open up again following the COVID-19 shutdown that marked the darker mood of his last LP, he’s letting the sun in and taking his fans on a getaway to the Caribbean.
Though 23 songs can appear to be languorous, Bad Bunny splits the experience into two parts. On Side A, he makes up for the reggaeton that was lacking on the trap-heavy El Último. Fans’ perreo dreams come true with “Party” featuring Rauw Alejandro, who is another Puerto Rican star on the rise. As Alejandro sings, they come through with a “Un bellaqueo bien nasty.” In this alluring reggaeton romp with an electronic touch, both artists lay their sexy swagger on thick.
Later, Bad Bunny reunites with Jhay Cortez for “Tarot”; after pushing towards a more EDM direction on the global smash “Dákiti,” they keep their reggaeton on course in this hypnotic club banger. Chencho Corleone, who is featured on recent hits by Alejandro and Anitta, appears on the spellbinding “Me Porto Bonito.” Bad Bunny knows how to conjure up nostalgia among his millennial fans when he sings in Spanish, “In the 2000s, she listened to RBD and now she wants to perreo all night long on the wall.”
On Side A, Bad Bunny also ventures into other Caribbean genres. In “Después De La Playa,” the spacey beats surprisingly lead to a merengue music drop. Here, the artist sounds like he’s having the time of his ife over the horns as he winkingly sings in Spanish, “I’ll give you a surfboard, baby.” In another nod to the music of Dominican Republic, he opens “Tití Me Preguntó” with a sample of Anthony Santos’ “No Te Puedo Olvidar.” That bachata riff seamlessly leads to a trap beat that explodes into a full dembow anthem. Bad Bunny shouts out many Latina names “Mambo No. 5”-style, inlcuding the titular Tití, Gabriela, Maria, Thalia, and Sofia. This is one of the most incredible and mind-blowing fusions on the album.
Side B is the more adventurous half of the album, pushing Bad Bunny’s sound into new places with collabraotions with alternative acts. There’s always been an emo edge to his music, but in “Otro Atardecer” with The Marías, that’s taken to the next level. Breezy guitar riffs melt into reggaeton beats as he evokes paradise with the band’s lead singer, María Zardoya. They sound absolutely sublime while harmonizing together.
Over the course of the LP, there’s a happy medium between reggaeton and Afrobeats. In his beautiful love letter to Puerto Rican women, “Andrea,” he coasts sparkling Afrobeats with the help of duo Buscabulla. Bad Bunny later turns up the heat with the sultry “Aguacero”; always one to pack his songs with lyrical punchlines, he croons in Spanish, “Take it easy / You know that I’m a Pisces and I fall in love easy.”
The most triumphant moment on the Un Verano Sin Ti is “El Apagón,” Bad Bunny’s ode to his island. He sings about the history of reggaeton’s roots in Puerto Rico over classic bomba beats. The light percussion then erupts into a full house track. “Now everyone wants to be Latino/ But they lack seasoning, drums, and reggaeton,” he sings in Spanish.
With the sun-kissed Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny continues to proudly give pop music some much-needed flavor, swagger, and sounds by way of the Caribbean.
Essential tracks: “Otro Atardecer,” “Party,” and “Tití Me Preguntó”
With his “El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo” wrapped, Bad Bunny is set to launch “The World’s Hottest Tour” this summer. Get tickets here.
Un Verano Sin Ti Artwork:.
Un Verano Sin Ti Tracklist:
01. Moscow Mule
02. Después de la Playa
03. Bonito (feat. Chencho Corleone)
04. Tití Me Preguntó
05. Un Ratito
06. Yo No Soy Celoso
07. Tarot (feat. Jhay Cortez)
08. Neverita
09. La Corriente (feat. Tony Dize)
10. Efecto
11. Party (feat. Rauw Alejandro)
12. Aguacero
13. Enseñame a Bailar
14. Ojitos Lindos (feat. Bomba Estéreo)
15. Dos Mil 16
16. El Apagón
17. Otro Atardecer (feat. The Marías)
18. Un Coco
19. Andrea (feat. Buscabulla)
20. Me Fui de Vacaciones
21. Un Verano Sin Ti
22. Agosto
23. Callaita
Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti Is Summer’s Swaggering, Flavorful Soundtrack: Review
Lucas Villa
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