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“I was always a very independent child,” Bad Bunny says over the phone from a hotel room in Las Vegas. “I liked to dress my own way, do my own things, make my bedroom my own space.” He’s preparing for the Latin Grammy Awards ceremony when we speak, and he will find out, over the course of our conversation, that he has won the award for best rap/hip-hop song for “Booker T,” a song in which he jokes about winning all the prizes without even attending the show.
If you are at all familiar with the Puerto Rican artist, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio—and who, after his record-breaking ascent, isn’t?—this independent, iconoclastic streak won’t come as a surprise. Ever since he completed his first Soundcloud upload in 2016, he has been characterized by his refusal to conform to any norms, consistently breaking the mold of what a Latin trap/urban artist should sound like. (The title of his second album: YHLQMDLG, which stood for Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana, or “I Do Whatever I Want.”) His songs often incorporate pop-punk, ’80s synth, and rock en español, and his lyrics deal not only with macho posturing, but also heartbreak, feminism, social justice, and his status as various would-be mothers-in-law’s favorite son. Last year, he appeared on the WWE’s WrestleMania (reviews were glowing) and in Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico, and filmed the Brad Pitt–starring action film Bullet Train—oh, and he became co-owner of Puerto Rico’s Cangrejeros de Santurce, igniting a renaissance for island basketball in the process.
Then, of course, there is his style, which eschews strictly gendered notions and feels both uniquely his and of this moment. Although he started working about three years ago with stylist Storm Pablo (“La Tormenta,” as he’s known), it is his high school friend Janthony Olivares who probably plays the most influential role when it comes to his offstage style. “I could wear the same outfit for a whole week if I’m on my own. So when I dress up, Janthony says, ‘Damn, brother, I’m proud of you,’ ” Martínez Ocasio says, laughing. “He hates it when I go out wearing whatever because he’s always acicalado”—very slick, dressed to the nines, with not a hair out of place.
When it comes to Bad Bunny’s onstage looks though, the vibe is anything but same old thing. In the past he has worn Chopova Lowena’s trademark pleated skirts (for his “Yo Perreo Sola” music video), a futuristic, straight-from-the-runway astronaut-inflected trench by Undercover’s Jun Takahashi (for last year’s American Music Awards), and a sober black suit by Burberry, accessorized with a single live sunflower (for the Grammys). “If I walked by a garden and I saw some flowers, I would pick them to bring them to my mom,” Martínez Ocasio muses of his childhood. “I was a bit of a clown, but I was also a bit shy, and I would also consider myself a loving boy.”
“I love to go find the things I am envisioning in my mind,” he says of his outfitting process, “but it’s truly impossible, we simply don’t have the time.” Right now his time is mostly being eaten up by rehearsals for his homecoming concert at Puerto Rico’s Hiram Bithorn stadium, which will take place a few weeks after we speak, and a North American tour this spring. He’s also hard at work on the follow-up to his award-winning third studio album, El Último Tour del Mundo—or “The Last Tour of the World.” Despite that tongue-in-cheek title, it’s safe to say Bad Bunny is just getting started.
In this story: hair, Evanie Frausto; makeup, Marcelo Gutierrez.