Bad Bunny Walks the Perfect Line of Sad But Funny In His 'Yonaguni' Video
Bad Bunny's style is incomparable. His singular visual approach extends to his album artwork—otherworldly and vibrant—and his music videos, which range from powerful statements on social issues to genius gags. His latest, the video for "Yonaguni," threads an interesting needle between sad and funny.
Translated to English, Bad Bunny is singing about a woman he loves moving to Yonaguni, a small island off the coast of Taiwan (he sings in Japanese at some points on the track). He layers his sadness with little jokes, like saying he will get her ass tattooed on his face. And the same goes for the video—a series of vignettes of a melancholy Bad Bunny moving through life.
But his mood is juxtaposed with a bunch of amazing visual gags: There's the demented way he makes scrambled eggs. There's Sad Bad Bunny walking eight doggos. There he is at a drink and draw class with a bunch of blonde women (he's made a stick figure happy face). He's getting a Pokemon tattoo. The poor guy is trying to watch the sunset and two people are rocking a car nearby.
To me, that's what I always love, and find so fascinating, about Bad Bunny's music. He makes club bangers with a real emotional heart to them. As he described the song to Zane Lowe last week: “It's a balance is what people want. But that's the idea, make a balance, give the people (what) they want, like the street fire street bang, and also like a chill, sweet rhythm to dance and enjoy for the summer."
There's something truly human in his music—a real identity unique to him. Like the Pokemon tattoo, for example. It isn't just a gag. The guy really loves to play Pokemon Go. That's rare to find in pop music: where most artists are just chasing trends, Bad Bunny is creating them. His music matches his style so well—he's bold, vibrant, and groundbreaking. And yet, behind that artistic exterior he's just a guy who's nervous to play his music in front of people.
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