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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/bad-bunny-releases-documentary-for-el-apagon-1234594915/">rollingstone.com</a>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Juan J. Arroyo - September 18, 2022<br></div>
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<h2>Bad Bunny’s Video for ‘El Apagón’ Is a Blistering Call to Action that Everyone Needs to See</h2><div>
<a href="https://youtu.be/1TCX_Aqzoo4">https://youtu.be/1TCX_Aqzoo4</a></div><div><br>
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<div>The Puerto Rican superstar used his latest music video to share an
18-minute documentary about displacement and other injustices his home
island is facing.</div>
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<cite>Bad Bunny</cite>
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<div><p>
On Friday, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/bad-bunny/">Bad Bunny</a>
released the highly anticipated music video for “El Apagón,” a spirited
ode to Puerto Rico that addresses several of the socioeconomic issues
affecting the archipelago. The song takes its title from the rolling
blackouts that have plagued Puerto Ricans, especially after Hurricane
María struck exactly five years ago. But, never one to shy away from
what’s happening in Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny surprised many by going much
deeper into the track’s subject matter and including an entire
18-minute documentary at the end of the video. </p>
<p>
The first four minutes of “El Apagón” show Bad Bunny and locals of all
ages in Old San Juan’s La Perla neighborhood. There’s tons of imagery of
Puerto Rican stars and historical figures, and it all ends with Bad
Bunny leading a rave inside the Guajataca Tunnel, where he turns the
spotlight on LGBTQIA+ dancers voguing and partying with him. Eventually,
everyone breaks into a chant that has already become iconic: “<em>Puerto Rico está bien cabrón</em>!” From there, the video segues into a sunrise, and quickly shifts gears.
</p>
<p>
Independent journalist <a href="https://twitter.com/bgraulau" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bianca Graulau</a>
takes over for “Aquí Vive Gente” (“People Live Here”), a short yet
detailed and in-depth documentary. For a few years now, Graulau has used
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/BiancaGraulau" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">YouTube</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@biancagraulau" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">social media</a>
to report on what Puerto Ricans have been experiencing and how the
economic policies of the last administrations have adversely affected
the archipelago. Her videos have become increasingly popular and widely
shared by locals and the diaspora — and clearly caught even Benito’s
attention.
</p>
<p>
The documentary dedicates time to the maligned sweetheart deal that the
previous administration of former governor Wanda Vázquez made with a
private company called LUMA Energy, the current administrator of Puerto
Rico’s power grid. Bad Bunny spoke out against LUMA during his <em><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-live-reviews/bad-bunny-yankee-stadium-tour-review-1234582710/">Un Verano Sin Ti</a></em> concerts in San Juan last month, echoing the frustration clients have had with poor quality of service and inflated prices. </p>
<p>
Graulau also takes viewers through the damaging tax exemptions that
have opened the doors to an influx of wealthy foreigners and
corporations who have moved to Puerto Rico to take advantage of laws and
receive massive breaks. She details how these laws impact the
livelihood of locals — one woman she interviews named Maricusa
Hernández reads from an eviction letter she received after the building
in Santurce where she had lived in for 26 years was sold to a property
management company that’s reselling it for $1.5 million. “They’re
displacing boricuas to become rich,” Hernández says in the documentary.</p>
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Bad Bunny directly addressed these issues in “El Apagón.” He cedes the
end of the track to his partner Gabriela Berlingeri, who sings “Yo no me
quiero ir de aquí… Lo que me pertenece se lo quedan ellos… Esta es mi
playa, este es mi sol… Esta es mi tierra, esta soy yo” (“I don’t want to
leave… They take what belongs to me… This is my beach, this is my sun…
This is my land, this is me.”)<p>Bad Bunny has been vocal about politics
in Puerto Rico for a long time. In 2019, he was one of the biggest
names involved in the ouster of then-governor Ricardo Rosselló, and he
has leaned harder into his work as an activist and advocate. His songs <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSh7HIH2pvg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Afilando Los Cuchillos”</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8GT33tkQGU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Compositor del Año”</a>
directly engaged with social topics in and outside of Puerto Rico, but
it’s with “El Apagón” that he’s planted his flag and declared his
full-throated love and support for his home. That he did so on an album
that has become one of the biggest of the year was special for his
Puerto Rican fans, and the immediate reactions to the music video and
documentary show how heartened they are to see him using his platform to
shine a light on important conversations that need to be had. He’s made
sure to clue in fans who haven’t been aware and rally support to push
Puerto Rico toward a future he and its citizens have been envisioning.
The song and music video are more than just a message — they’re a
call-to-action.<span></span></p></div></div>
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