There’s something powerful about watching an artist acknowledge those who came before them, especially when the relationship isn’t exactly straightforward. Bad Bunny did exactly that this week during his Debí Tirar Más Fotos tour in São Paulo, taking time to honor Willie Colón after the salsa legend’s death on Saturday at 75.
The moment felt genuine, not performative. Bad Bunny didn’t just drop a quick shout-out and move on. He spoke about how special the music was, how it represented the influence of everyone who grew up listening to salsa in the Caribbean. Then he performed “NUEVAYoL,” the very song that name-checks Colón in its opening bars.
When Art Bridges the Divide
Here’s where it gets interesting. Colón wasn’t exactly a Bad Bunny supporter in recent years. The salsa legend had right-wing views and wasn’t shy about voicing criticism of the reggaeton superstar on social media. But when “NUEVAYoL” first dropped on Benito’s genre-bending album, Colón responded positively anyway.
“When I heard it, I was really surprised. The push it gave to salsa and to Boricuas, it’s something we all needed,” Colón said in a video response back then. That’s a beautiful thing, actually. Despite their differences, Colón recognized what Bad Bunny was doing for Puerto Rican culture and music heritage.
The song itself is a love letter to Nuyorican icons. It samples Andy Montañez Rodríguez’s rendition of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico’s “Un Verano en Nueva York” over a boisterous dembow beat. Bad Bunny rapping “Willie Colón, me dicen ‘el malo’” is him paying respect to that 1967 debut album El Malo that defined an era.
Legacy Over Labels
What’s worth thinking about is how art transcends the personal baggage we all carry. Colón might not have agreed with Bad Bunny’s politics or cultural direction, but he understood respect when he heard it. And Bad Bunny, standing on stage in Brazil with thousands watching, chose to honor someone who didn’t always honor him back.
That’s not about being the bigger person or taking the moral high ground. It’s about recognizing that salsa, reggaeton, dembow, all of it flows from the same Caribbean bloodline. When you grow up with that music, it shapes who you become as an artist.
The real question isn’t whether Bad Bunny and Colón would’ve been friends. It’s whether we can all find that same ability to separate the art from the artist, the legacy from the individual’s later opinions, and acknowledge what matters most: the music, the culture, the connection to something bigger than ourselves.
