Can any man on the planet match the swagger of Bad Bunny? For three hours on Saturday night he thrusted through the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with such easy energy and louche, gum-chewing braggadocio I was convinced his charisma alone was enough to have made him a phenomenon.
At last, the UK has joined the Bad Bunny party. For the past few years, there has been no artist as exciting as the 32-year-old Puerto Rican sensation, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio. His fusion of trap, rap, reggaeton, salsa, hip hop, bomba and pop has made him the most-streamed artist in the world year after year; in February his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos became the first Spanish-language record to win the Grammy for album of the year; the same month, his Super Bowl half-time show, a staggeringly impressive celebration of Latino joy, was the first not in the English language.
In north London, his first of two shows marked the biggest Spanish-language concert in British history. It was an explosive, relentlessly uplifting fiesta. In a cream suit and sunglasses, he opened with salsa song “La Mudanza”, an affirmation of pride, a tribute to his family and an outcry about gentrification. His superb backing band Los Sobrinos sparked the night’s frenzy of guitars, brass and Puerto Rican folk as Benito announced the plan for the rest of the evening: to love and dance “sin miedo” – without fear.
