LATIN

Bad Bunny, "Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana" (Rimas)

Sure, it's lonely at the top. But isn't it also fun once in a while? It's hard not to ask that question listening to Bad Bunny's latest flood of songs, "Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana" ("Nobody Knows What Will Happen Tomorrow"). It holds 21 songs and a quick snippet. But that abundance brings little joy. Like Drake and Ye, this Puerto Rican superstar has conquered the world but still feels unappreciated and beleaguered.

Bad Bunny has a perpetually startling voice, a baritone that can sing or rap with equal power. Defying the conventional wisdom of American pop crossover, he keeps his lyrics in Spanish, making any collaborators cross over to him. The new songs on his fifth album proclaim that he's well aware of his status as a trailblazer — but that it doesn't give him much comfort.

The album opens with "Nadie Sabe," a six-minute manifesto of superstar isolation. "No one knows, no, what it feels like to feel alone in front of 100,000 people," he declares. And the haters still get under his skin. "I'm not at my peak, now I'm in my prime," he sings. "That's why they're praying that I crash."

Bad Bunny has broadened his musical horizons with each of his albums. While Latin trap and reggaeton are his musical foundations, he has delved into rock, reggae, hip-hop, salsa, bomba, merengue, EDM and more. Yet on the new album, he deliberately narrows his palette to the Latin trap that dominated his 2018 debut.

In the new songs, Bad Bunny works his way through familiar topics: wealth, parties, sex, fame, autonomy. And even in well-trodden sonic territory, he can create arresting songs. He's decisively embittered in "Gracias por Nada" ("Thanks for Nothing"), a post-breakup trap ballad that burns every bridge as it details how deeply he was betrayed.

But as the album ticks and hums along, the songs that linger are the ones that break away from standard Latin trap. In "Mr. October," Bad Bunny boasts about his achievements as looping, nervous keyboards suggest anxiety behind the proud façade. "Where She Goes" uses the pounding, capacious sounds of a Jersey Club beat for a lament about a one-night stand he wishes he could repeat.

Like much of the album, "Acho PR," featuring Puerto Rican rappers he grew up hearing, insists that Bad Bunny is still rooted, that international recognition hasn't changed his deepest loyalties. But the biggest star in the world has countless options. Now that he has looked back, how can he move ahead?

JON PARELES, New York Times

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