Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny performs onstage during the first show of his 30-date concert residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 11, 2025. (Photo by Ricardo ARDUENGO \/ AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bad Bunny, 31, has long used his platform as a means to give voice to his fellow Puerto Ricans, while also managing to rule the charts with his reggaeton-forward blend of eminently danceable pop\u00a0that has found massive global success.<\/p>\n
And now the artist born Benito Martinez Ocasio is bringing that success back home to El Choli, as the arena with a capacity of more than 18,000 is colloquially known in the Puerto Rican capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s super emotional,\u201d Amanda Sanchez, 30, told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Locals first<\/h3>\n \u201cI think Benito did something really transcendental, for what the culture is, here in Puerto Rico,\u201d said the\u00a0content creator dressed in a red scarf and a Puerto Rican-flag colored bikini top.<\/p>\n
From moving, acoustic renditions delivered from beneath a tree to a house structure on the other side of the arena where Bad Bunny partied with the likes of LeBron James, the energy was relentlessly high.<\/p>\n
During a seamless transition from one super smash \u2014 \u201cNuevayol\u201d \u2014 to another \u2014 \u201cTiti me pregunto,\u201d the stadium almost seemed to shake.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t hear you!\u201d\u00a0the artist shouted to roars from his fans.<\/p>\n
That the first nine shows are limited to Puerto Rican residents \u2014 a poignant remark on Bad Bunny\u2019s commitment to making music first and foremost for the people of his homeland \u2014 is something \u201creally special for us,\u201d said Sanchez.<\/p>\nA woman wears a bunny rabbit mask before the start of the first show of Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny\u2019s 30-date concert residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 11, 2025. (Photo by Ricardo ARDUENGO \/ AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Puerto Rico is a US territory but not a state. Even though its residents are American citizens, their rights are limited.<\/p>\n
They cannot vote in the US presidential election, for example, and have only a non-voting delegate in Congress.<\/p>\n
Sanchez said it was heartwarming \u201cto be able to feel like an artist of Bad Bunny\u2019s magnitude can give us, the people of the island\u201d first pick of shows.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we are here to enjoy it, to dance and to have a great time!\u201d<\/p>\n
As fans, many wearing the iconic Puerto Rican \u201cpava\u201d straw hats, filed en masse into El Choli, vendors slung pina coladas, the beloved frozen drink born on the island.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speak the \u2018truth\u2019<\/h3>\n Prior to the show a screen overlooking the tropical set \u2014 on which live chickens wandered freely \u2014 displayed facts about Puerto Rican history and unabashed political statements.<\/p>\n
The crowd burst into applause when the screen flash with the message: \u201cPR is an unincorporated territory of the United States, but has its own flag, culture and identity.\u201d<\/p>\nPuerto Rican singer Bad Bunny performs onstage during the first show of his 30-date concert residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 11, 2025. (Photo by Ricardo ARDUENGO \/ AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The highly anticipated residency announced in January began on July 11, and will continue into September over subsequent Friday to Sunday three-day weekends.<\/p>\n
Michelle Munoz, 55, a Brooklynite of Puerto Rican origin, did not have tickets for the buzzy opening night but showed up anyway to soak in the vibes.<\/p>\nFans attend the first show of Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny\u2019s 30-date concert residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 11, 2025. (Photo by Ricardo ARDUENGO \/ AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Munoz said she began coming back to her parents\u2019 homeland in 2023, after having stayed in the United States for decades.<\/p>\n
Now, she feels \u201clike this is where I want to spend the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Munoz, Bad Bunny\u2019s popularity stems from his willingness to speak the \u201ctruth\u201d while \u201cshowing and honoring the history of music \u2014 the music that came before him, that he grew up on, and that made him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not a crossover. He is a Spanish-singing global artist,\u201d she added. \u201cNot everybody can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Bad Bunny,Folkloric Drumming Performance,Historic Residency,Puerto RicansSource<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bad Bunny Draws Jubilant Puerto Ricans To Historic Residency \u00a0 Bad Bunny launched his historic residency Friday with an explosive performance that fused folkloric drumming and dance with the reggaeton beats that have made him a global star, as thousands of Puerto Ricans screamed along to every word during the show limited to locals. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":232337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[565,566,567,568],"class_list":["post-232336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-bad-bunny","tag-folkloric-drumming-performance","tag-historic-residency","tag-puerto-ricans"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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