Illustration By Xiomara Villarreal-Gerardo / Staff

By Julia Woock

Summarizing the lunacy and sickness of the Trump Administration fills news magazines and epic tomes by Washington insiders.

Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny did it in 2:34.

Like journalism, the arts can present the first draft of history, and clever musicians can do it with a catchy beat. Bad Bunny, however, seems less interested in packing the dance floor than the voter precincts.

His latest hit “Compositor del Año” is often profane, but always insightful. He packs enough into two-and-a-half minutes to make you think for two-and-a-half weeks.

It starts with an excerpt of Little Richard’s propulsive 1950’s rocker “Tutti Frutti” and the opening volley “Little Richard was always better than Elvis and it’s been some time baby boomers were babies.” He sings of having a beautiful day wrecked by the news of a horrific shooting by “un blanquito,” his response to the shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin by 17-year-old White supremacist  Kyle Rittenhouse that killed two protesters and injured a third. Citizens of Kenosha were protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man that was shot seven times in the back, leaving him paralyzed. Trump refused to condemn Rittenhouse’s actions, suggesting he acted in self-defense.

“Black Lives Matter, may Kobe rest in peace, it’s 2020 and racism is worse than Covid,” Bad Bunny continues. “A Black man with a gun is a criminal, while a white one is a guy with a hobby.”

Religious hypocrisy by American evangelicals during the Trump era has been eye-popping, and Bad Bunny asked Christians if they think Jesus is still watching. He is. His values do not expire, he sings, and the truth hurts so conservatives prefer lies. Misogeny and violence against women is a long-time Bad Bunny theme and he points out that it is screwed up that women run the risk of rape going to church to pray. Women surely do not come from a man’s rib, he declares, men in turn come from a woman’s pelvis.

Peppered with saucy Puerto Rican slang and colorful metaphors, Bad Bunny urges young voters to look at the records of elected officials and to turn out politicians who are acting against voters’ rights, immigrants, women, people of color and the environment. The American Dream, he declared, will not really exist until people stand up. Children caged in ICE detention centers, women who suffer domestic violence and Black men mistreated by White police will get no meaningful relief until voters stand up the politicians that enable these maladies.

Bad Bunny reserved some of his fiercest lyrics for bad cops, particularly the Minneapolis officers accused of the murder of George Floyd May 25 when an officer knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes and suffocated him.

“Y está cabrón/Que no te dejen respirar

Y que una placa sea licencia pa’ matar/Pero ser blanco es lo que te haga letal

Y que ser negro sea lo que te haga un blanco, ey”

(“It’s screwed up that they won’t let you breathe and that a badge is a license to kill, but being White is what makes you lethal and being Black is what makes you a target.”)

“Compositor del Año,” is another example of a new generation of Latino protest songs and a strong voice from an often silent community that needs to speak up. These artists capture the zeitgeist of what ails society, like the band Molotov’s song “Gimme Tha Power,” a call to unity to eliminate the corruption in Mexico and fight against racial stereotypes. Colombian artist Juanes uses his song, “Fíjate Bien” to tell the harrowing stories of the victims of landmines. Shakira songs such as “Pies Descalzos,” “Se Quiere, Se Mata” and “¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?” are also social criticisms.

Latin America and American Latinos of the 21st century need their own powerful protest troubadours like Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp were in the 20th century. Bad Bunny is hopping into the picture. Let us hope others follow his trail.