We Think Bad Bunny Will Perform These Songs at His Residency in Puerto Rico
FILE - Bad Bunny performs during the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
Bad Bunny is ready to show what his island is all about. After the Puerto Rican icon released his latest hit album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, he announced a historical residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan. The sold-out “NO ME QUIERO IR DE AQUÍ” residency will take place from July 11 to Sept. 14. But what can we really expect from it?
For starters, Benito is known to be intentional with his albums, including his promotional rollouts, lyric content, and music videos. For example, in DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS’ rollout, he included history lessons as the official visualizers’ artwork on his YouTube channel. He also used the album’s short film to call out gentrification. With this in mind, we can visualize that he continues this path and uses the opportunity to immerse his audience in his island’s traditional music, similar to the album.
Take what we say with a grain of salt, but we can envision a salsa and plena-heavy concert that will be cohesive with him spreading knowledge of Puerto Rico’s traditions. Here’s why. El Conejo Malo has been recently spotted performing salsa versions of past hits like “Chambea” and “Callaíta,” leaving us wondering if he will only perform salsa versions of his music during his residency. We can see him perhaps splitting the concert into two segments: one dedicated to the traditional Caribbean sounds, including plena and salsa with live instruments like percussions, acoustic strings, maracas, and brass instruments; and the other half dedicated to his perreo repertoire, including his trap, reggaeton, EDM, and club-ready hits. Fans got a taste of the latter during his recent performance at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards, where he performed “EoO” for the first time. And let’s just say they’re more than ready to catch Benito if he decides to crowd surf.
With these ideas in mind, we can manifest salsa and plena-infused songs on his set list like “NUEVAYoL,” “BAILE INoLVIDABLE,” “PIToRRO DE COCO,” “CAFé CON RON,” “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” “DtMF,” and “LA MuDANZA.” At the iHeartRadio Music Awards, he also performed “WELTiTA,” giving us a potential peek at what he’s preparing us for. Moreover, we can also envision him singing a salsa medley full of Puerto Rican icons he respects, such as Héctor Lavoe, Willie Colón, and El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico – the latter who he samples on “NUEVAYoL.”
As for salsa versions, besides “Chambea” and “Callaíta,” we can also theorize different versions of hits like “Después de la Playa,” “Neverita,” and “DÁKITI” – some of which have already been reimagined as salsa before.
Though he may include reimagine versions of older songs during his setlist, don’t count on hearing all his past hits. In fact, the Boricua icon said the tour is very much dedicated to DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. “First of all, I’m not Taylor Swift,” he said in a recent interview with Variety when asked if his shows would be like Swift’s “The Eras Tour.” “I want to clarify now so that they don’t get so excited: It’s not going to be organized that way. It’s still very much a tour for ‘Debí,’ with some older songs sprinkled in.”
Is our head too in the clouds? Are we delusional? Maybe. But let’s recall Benito’s “Most Wanted Tour” era: he took a live orchestra – and a real horse – all around the U.S., so it appears no idea is too out-of-the-box for him. Now, imagine a residency with no transportation costs? Our heads are back in the sky…
We’ll keep an eye out for any hints leading to July’s residency premiere – after all, he’s “been waiting” for a salsa resurgence. Maybe he’s taking it upon himself to make it happen.