Bad Bunny: Tiny Desk Concert

Bad Bunny: Tiny Desk Concert with tags npr, npr music, national public radio, live, performance, tiny desk, tiny desk concert, tony desk, tiny concert

Anamaria Sayre | April 7, 2025

For a moment, Bad Bunny forgot that he wasn’t in Puerto Rico. Despite its residence in a news building in the capital of the United States, the Tiny Desk can — when colored by the careful vision of a true artist — take you anywhere else, especially the true origins of the music.

But for the superstar, Puerto Rico is so beloved and so sacred that he could never truly forget it… and he’s making sure the world sees that, too. The island is his source of inspiration and the mandate for which he wages war. Flanked by cuatros and congas, Bad Bunny wields the power of Puerto Ricans who have strummed chords and hummed lelolai for generations in efforts to keep the culture alive.

After performing “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” San Benito tells a parable about a man drawn to his band rehearsing outside the White House. “It’s incredible,” the man in the story says, “that after a hundred years of colonization you keep your culture, your language, your tongue, your slang.”

The Puerto Rican flag laid out before him shines; its brilliant blue is defiant and captivating. “They killed people for waving the flag,” Bad Bunny sings in “LA MuDANZA.” But there’s such joy in the expression and such vibrance in the dance. Even with his global platform, Benito’s true magic is intimacy: He wants you to fall in love with Puerto Rico. We scream with him: “Yo soy de P f****** R!” Whether you are you aren’t, your heart won’t know the difference.

SET LIST

“PIToRRO DE COCO”

“VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR”

“KLOuFRENS”

“LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii”

“LA MuDANZA”

MUSICIANS

Bad Bunny: vocals

Luis Sanz: cuatro puertorriqueño, tiple, bordonúa, background vocals

Fabiola Méndez: cuatro puertorriqueño, tiple, bordonúa, background vocals

Emanuel Santana: güicharo, Pandero de plena, maracas, background vocals

Julito Gastón: congas

Krystal Santana: bass, background vocals

Luis Amed Irizarry: piano

Jay Anthony: bongos, percussion

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer: Anamaria Sayre

Director/Editor: Kara Frame

Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell

Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter

Videographers: Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Keren Carrión, Zayrha Rodriguez

Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai

Production Assistants: Ashley Pointer, Dora Levite

Photographer: Virginia Lozano

Tiny Desk Series Editor: Lars Gotrich

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson

VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

#tinydesk #nprmusic #badbunny