Lyrics in music have evolved for centuries. Now more than ever music is being listened by everyone and has become another way of bringing awareness.
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny has recently dropped an album called Debí Tirar Más Fotos or “I Should’ve Taken More Pictures” in English. This album has 17 songs, multiple of which talk about embracing his Puerto Rican culture and not letting it die. Multiple songs in this album also refer to the intersection of Puerto Rican culture, gentrification, and identity. He critiques the ways which Puerto Rico’s culture is being erased or changed due to the gentrification and tourism.
Mexican and Puerto Rican student, Marilu Cuarao talks about how this is something that is true and is happing and with his lyrics are reflecting what Puerto Ricans feel.
“His lyrics have so much meaning. He talks about how there’s gentrification happening in Puerto Rico and how the locals are being bought out by tourist and Americans,” Cuarao said.
In one of his songs called Lo Que Le Paso a Hawaii, some lyrics translated in English say, “They want to take my rivers, and my beach too, they want my neighborhood and grandma to leave, No, 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”.
These lyrics describe the way locals are struggling to survive because tourism is taking over in beaches, rivers, and neighborhoods. This brings awareness about the loss of cultural authenticity and the displacement of communities not just in Puerto Rico but all over Latin America. In Mexico City there has been an increase of 23.8% foreigners moving to Mexico City as of 2022, according to El Economista. As a result, prices have increased, for example, the neighborhood of La Condesa in Mexico City increased by 66% in the past 24 months, according to El Economista. Many Locals are then forced out because they don’t have the same salaries than most Americans and won’t be able to compete with paying as much as they are asking. Therefore, they are then displaced and have to move. Slowly it becomes mostly Americans who live there.
One city in Mexico that has almost been completely changed is Ajijic, Jalisco. This city has great weather, is close to urbanization, and has cheap prices, making it a great place for outsiders to live. The city has been filled with Americans causing businesses to change their names into English and even changed street names. For example, one traditional neighborhood which was called Barrio de las Seis Esquinas was changed to West Ajijic.
A student who has been seen gentrification first-hand in her town is Amy Ayala. She is Salvadorian and has experienced gentrification in areas like San Salvador, where foreign tourism have impacted certain neighborhoods. She also has heard that
wealthy developers have renovated parts of the city causing prices to rise, causing the lower-income locals to be pushed out.
“This has impacted some of my family members and has created a divide where some benefit from the country being more modern while others are really struggling with rising costs and displacement,” Ayala explained.
These examples of gentrification occurring rapidly in our world create concern for the future of Latin American cultural identity. People like Bad Bunny help bring needed awareness to issues such as these, showing their true dedication through music and self-expression.
