Music from movies and life outside the couch.
The seventh playlist in our music series is the most personal for me. Last January 5th, Bad Bunny released his sixth solo album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos. It is a collection of nostalgic, emotive, patriotic, and subversive anthems about our life in Puerto Rico. Anyone can argue he released that album because of the state governor’s elections, in which corrupt authoritarian Jennifer Gonzales won despite everything that’s happened in recent history.
One of the album’s most popular songs, Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii, cries:
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 Hawái
Which translates to “They want my river and beach too. Take my neighborhood, and that grandma leaves. Don’t let go of the flag nor forget the lelolai, ’cause I don’t want them to do to you what happened to Hawaii.” It is a proclamation of our identity and to keep our home. To not let history repeat itself. Sadly, we all know what kind of history is repeating on the mainland.
With Bad Bunny’s song as inspiration came the idea of adding songs such as Juventud Crasa’s Ronettes cover from Angel Manuel Soto’s Blue Beetle and a David Byrne song featuring none other than Celia Cruz. This playlist not only has songs that remind me of my Caribbean and Latinx roots, but it is full of great songs I love and keeps me in a good mood on these darker days.
I hope you all enjoy it.
Film Reviews
