Review: Bad Bunny brings listeners closer to home with latest album Debí Tirar Más Fotos

Bad Bunny released his sixth studio album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, on January 5, 2025. (Credit: Independent en Español)

Whenever Bad Bunny releases a new album, you just know you’re starting a new season of your life that will live on your mind for years to come. 

After the release of YHLQMDLG (I Do Whatever I Want) in 2020, a lot of fans listened and danced to the album indoors amidst a global pandemic. Fast forward two years later, the Grammy-winning and world-famous Puerto Rican artist released Un Verano Sin Ti (A Summer Without You). This release was his fourth solo album and the first one where he blended different music styles such as cumbia, bachata and reggae into reggaeton.  

If you listen to any song from these two albums, you are immediately transported back to the time of its release. You suddenly recall what stage of life you were in and the good times you shared with your friends while these songs played in the background — listening to heartfelt lyrics that perfectly described your life.  

Bad Bunny’s newest release, Debí Tirar Más Fotos (I Should Have Taken More Photos), will not only transport you back to your 2025 self in the future but will also take you to the heart of Puerto Rico, making you feel like you’ve just arrived home.

I Should Have Taken More Photos is now presumed to be the most impactful album in his entire discography, widely acclaimed for the cultural legacy it leaves behind. 

Cover of Bad Bunny’s sixth studio album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos.

Starting with his album cover, Bad Bunny shows he’s been brought up just like any other person in Latin America, digging up memories about what it means to grow up having two plastic chairs in your backyard.

Even if you are not from Puerto Rico, it is a rule of thumb for every Latino to have childhood memories including these two chairs. 

Imagine a hot Sunday afternoon where neighbours gather to share drinks and discuss the latest political situation, with Frankie Ruiz playing in the background. Or a loud family party that went on until dawn while you dozed off on two chairs with the music blasting.

With this cover, he peels back his layers and reveals his humble beginnings. The album reminds his audience that no matter where life takes you, through music you can return to your roots. This album is more than just an ode to his island, it’s also a history lesson and a sign of protest and resilience from the Puerto Rican community. 

Debí Tirar Más Fotos starts with Nueva Yol. In this song, Bad Bunny celebrates the Big Apple and shines a light on Puerto Rican icons such as New York Yankee player Juan Soto and one of the main pioneers of salsa in the 1970s, Willie Colon.

As the opener for the album, Nueva Yol sets the tone for the rest of the album where you realize that Bad Bunny is the only artist who could successfully mix a sample of “Un Verano en Nueva York,” the 1975 salsa classic and 21st-century dembow.

Bad Bunny then makes a sudden shift from merengue and bomba sounds to the most vulnerable song on the album: Lo Qué Le Pasó a Hawaii (What Happened to Hawaii) which is only accompanied by a güiro and a guitar. This song might as well be an anthem of resilience for the gentrification Puerto Rico has had to endure as an island owned by the U.S. government.

With this song, he makes it more than clear that he doesn’t want Puerto Rico to fall into the hands of America’s overconsumerism. Let the country be for the people only:

Quieren quitarme el río y también la playa / Quieren el barrio mío y que abuelita se vaya / No, no suelte’ la bandera ni olvide’ el lelolai / Que no quiero que hagan contigo lo que le pasó a Hawaii” (They want to take away my river and also the beach / They want my neighbourhood and for my grandma to leave / No, don’t let go of the flag or forget the lelolai / I don’t want them to do to you what happened to Hawaii)

As promotion for his album, the artist released a political short film where he shows an older man reminiscing good times with his best friend in the neighbourhood he grew up in. However, as he is walking through the streets, he is taken aback by the amount of Americans who have taken over old businesses and transformed them into places that lack culture and are unaffordable for locals. 

Nevertheless, DTMF has been the most viral track of the album.

Alessandra Hernandez, a second-year student from Honduras, said that she was approached by one of her teammates from the volleyball team asking if she heard the new Bad Bunny album. 

She said she was surprised to hear this since her teammate was not from a Spanish-speaking country. They both found a common ground where they agreed that DTMF beats and lyrics made them emotional, even bringing them to tears. 

“I think it’s my favourite song from the album,” said Hernandez. “It makes you reflect on how nowadays, with technology and all, we are able to capture memories with our loved ones even though I’m not physically with them.”

With a blend of Nintendo-inspired beats and a Puerto Rican folk sound, Bad Bunny calls out to his audience to embrace their time with their loved ones while they are still living on this not-so-everlasting planet. Mainly, it is the go-to song for those who migrated to other countries without their families and the only thing they have left is digital snippets of moments they can look back on. 

Bad Bunny’s Debi Tirar Mas Fotos album is now in line to be album of the year in the next music award season. 

The artist is set to embark on an exclusive tour in Puerto Rico this year. Performing at The José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, the biggest entertainment arena on the island.

Bad Bunny will perform from July 11 to Sept. 14. 

Maybe after listening to this album spending a summer in Puerto Rico might just be added to your bucket list.