Bad Bunny‘s latest video “Baile Inolvidable” feels like a refreshing step backwards to move forward. The six-minute opus from his surprise-dropped album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” shows Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio doing something we’ve rarely seen from him: being a student.
The video, which features Puerto Rican filmmaker Jacobo Morales, follows Bad Bunny as he fumbles through salsa dance classes before eventually mastering the steps. It’s a perfect metaphor for the song itself, which represents the superstar’s most ambitious musical pivot yet. Gone are the trap beats and electronic flourishes that made him famous, replaced instead by a full live band featuring some of Puerto Rico’s youngest musical talents.
During his recent Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, Bad Bunny revealed that “Baile Inolvidable” had been gestating in his mind for two years before finally taking shape. The patience shows – this isn’t just a Latin pop star trying on salsa like a costume. The track, which Benito calls his favorite from the album, breathes with the organic chemistry of its young musicians, all recruited from Puerto Rico’s Escuela Libre de Música and mostly in their early twenties.
The song’s narrative about a man unable to forget the woman who taught him to dance could easily veer into cliché territory, but Bad Bunny’s delivery, backed by authentic congas, piano, and brass, transforms it into something more profound. It’s a love letter not just to a person, but to Puerto Rican musical tradition itself.
“Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” Bad Bunny’s sixth studio album, continues this theme of cultural preservation and evolution. The 17-track collection features collaborations exclusively with Puerto Rican artists including Chuwi, Dei V, Omar Courtz, Pleneros de la Cresta, and RaiNao. It’s a bold move for an artist of his global stature to keep things so decidedly local.
The video’s progression from dance studio to grand ballroom performance feels earned, mirroring Bad Bunny’s own artistic journey from trap sensation to cultural ambassador. As he demonstrates his newly acquired salsa skills alongside a live band, we’re witnessing an artist who’s not afraid to show his learning curve, even at the height of his success.
