According to the recent census statistics mentioned in a new reflection on language and identity, only 22% of the population of Puerto Rico feels that they can speak English very well. That setting has left the run of Bad Bunny even larger than the numbers, which, in recent times, have been blaring.
As if it has no business, his album Debi Tirar Mas Fotos is continuously moving. The set made an impact on Billboard, appearing on Latin lanes with 17 songs at the top of the Hot Latin Songs (dated Feb. 14), 14 of which were reentries. It also owned the whole top five, a snapshot of dominance that reads like a playlist takeover as opposed to a standard post-awards bump.
The biggest success within that wave was the quasi-title song, “DtMF”, with which Bad Bunny closed his Super Bowl halftime show, surrounded by a procession of flags representing all of the American continent. The song recorded a 177% streaming increase to 15.1 million official streams in the U.S. tracking week ending Feb. 5, according to Luminate, pushing it up Billboard Hot 100 at No. 10, Streaming Songs at No. 4, and Latin Streaming Songs at No. 1. Its Hot Latin Rhythm Songs reign also remained and marked a 45th week of No. 1 in its entire chart history.
Streaming told one story. Sales told another.
“DtMF” also gained 3,000 downloads during the tracking period, a 981 increase that returned it to Digital Song Sales at No. 11 and continued in the lead of the Latin Digital Song Sales a 10th week. That additional boost pushed “DtMF” higher on a chart with a combination of streaming, sales, and radio, as the former, despite a two-week stint at the top, was pushed off the summit by “Baile Inolvidable” which, despite its own rise in streams, is up 101% to 11.9 million.
The most remarkable thing is the dissemination of the album gains not only through the headline song. “EOO” made improvements on Hot Latin Songs (3-4) with a 98% streaming gain to 7.3 million, and also rose on Latin Digital Song Sales with 1,000 downloads. Those type of parallel spikes people press play and pay money on a file demonstrate a fanbase which is not passively receiving a viral moment.
All of it was going back to the album itself. Debi Tirar Mas Fotos increased 138% in equivalent album units to 85,000, spent a 51-week stay at the No. 1 position on the Top Latin Albums and shot 9-2 on the Billboard 200. It has also taken the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200, in the same chart frame, which further shows the effect of his present age bringing older chapters with it.
The lift itself is accompanied by a cultural soundtrack and not a commercial one. One of the BBC authors who wrote about the mid-break performance remembered the performance recreating the sugarcane fields and sites of Puerto Rico, where bomba and plena were presented in addition to reggaeton, and quoted one line of the 2018 song by the artist “Ser Bichote”: “We are closing schools, and we are opening points. So what do I do? Tell me, I’m asking you.” With that framing, the charts are less of a victory lap and more of evidence of arrival- Puerto Rican Spanish, Puerto Rican references, Puerto Rican rhythm travelling without translation.
