By Dánica Coto
In a small bookstore in the Caribbean’s largest mall, dozens of people gathered on a recent evening for the launch of a slim dictionary. Its title is “The ABC of DtMF,” which is short for “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS,” the newest album from Puerto Rico’s latest prodigious son, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny.
The mostly older crowd flipped through the pages, seeking to understand more about Puerto Rico’s culture, the places, phrases and references in Bad Bunny’s music.
The singer has elevated the global profile of the island, a U.S. territory, to new heights, promoting its traditional music, denouncing its gentrification and challenging its political status.
It was an unexpected opportunity for an island that for years has cried out about its territorial status, dwindling affordable housing, high cost of living, chronic power outages, medical exodus and fragile economy. Pleas for change have been largely pushed aside, but Puerto Ricans
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