Art by Stephany Torres for Remezcla.
We survived the first weekend of Bad Bunny’s “No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí” residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot (or el Choli, as we locals call it). The first three shows are already history, and we still have 27 more to come.
Now that we have had a glimpse of the first weekend, we have an idea of what to expect during the following dates. If you ask me, every weekend of this residency will keep on surprising us in terms of appearances and collaborations. This first weekend, we had special guests like Lebron James and Draymond Green on Bad Bunny’s VIP Casita on the Choliseo stage. For his third show, Pedro Capó made an appearance to sing “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii.”
Now let’s imagine this: You are going to one of the shows. The day you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived, and now you are getting ready to finally see Bad Bunny at the Choli. As you prepare for the concert, you decide to take a break from jammin’ to DtMF, as you’ve been listening to it nonstop since January, and you decide to listen to other classic Puerto Rican stars to get everything started.
What are our recommendations to get in tune with the best classic Puerto Rican songs? Save our suggestions included in this list, and who knows if any of these stars make an appearance during one of the shows.
In Puerto Rico, we always blast our merengue, especially when we’re about to clean our houses during the weekends. What is always our best choice? Olga Tañón! The queen of merengue is always the one who gives up the energy to keep on going to clean up, and also, is the perfect tune to get ready to jam Benito’s tunes live.
No doubt that Puerto Rico is salsa, and if there is a classic that goes beyond generations, that one is “Amores Como el Nuestro” by Jerry Rivera. There is no doubt that Puerto Rico is salsa, and Rivera made history by making salsa accessible for younger generations. Those first notes of this song are so recognizable that years later, they were featured by Shakira on “Hips Don’t Lie.”
Although it seems like Plena is something new, in Puerto Rico, we have all grown up listening to this rhythm — especially during Christmas and Las Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián. Thanks to Bad Bunny and Los Pleneros de la Cresta, this genre is now worldwide praise, but if we want to get back to the roots, we find names like los Hermanos Ayala, Rafael Cepeda, even Rafael Cortijo and Ismael Rivera. If we trace the story of the rhythm, we find legendary bands such as Los Pleneros de la 23 Abajo and Los Pleneros del Quinto Olivo. During the ‘90s, other names like Plena Libre, Plenealo and Viento de Agua also left their mark on this genre, paving the way that today, Los Pleneros de La Cresta are walking next to Benito. This classic gives you an idea of the inspiration behind some of the sounds and elements you can find on DtMF, such as the panderos and the güiro, which will hype you and get you ready to experience it live.
If there’s a song that should get you ready to see Benito, that is “Suavemente” by Elvis Crespo. As you might remember, Bad Bunny made a tribute to this video in his “Neverita” video by recreating the “Suavemente” video. That on its own makes it the perfect tune to get ready, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Elvis makes an appearance during one of the shows.
José Feliciano was one of the guests Bad Bunny brought to the stage at Coachella in 2023, and if we go to history, he was the first Puerto Rican singer to have a successful crossover worldwide. Considering his career, and if you want to get into a real Puerto Rican classic, José Feliciano is the person. Who knows, Benito could be bringing him back to the stage during one of his shows.
Getting into the biggest classics and heading way back in time, one of the biggest names on the Trova puertorriqueña (genre that inspired “Pitorro de Coco”) is Chuito el de Bayamón. This trovador is considered one of the biggest names of what we also call “música jíbara” and in his hometown, Bayamón, there is a fest in his honor.
If we could mention the origin of Puerto Rican salsa we love and praise today, and from which Bad Bunny and most of the musicians featured in DtMF have been influenced, Cortijo y Su Combo might be the biggest reference. Rafael Cortijo had El Sonero Mayor, Ismael Rivera as the lead singer of his band, making the blueprint of what salsa was about to become. One of the biggest legacies of Cortijo was the simplicity of his arrangements, which allowed musicians to jam and improvise live — one of the features in salsa music still loved today. Although this song was recorded more than 60 years ago, when it gets played in a chinchorro, no one remains seated; everyone needs to dance to the rhythm.
