Album Review: Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti

By Isabella Franco Salazar, February 9 2025—

Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny, is one of the pioneers in the spread of Latin American reggaeton and trap in recent years. His talent and reach have resulted in numerous awards and records, including being featured on the list of the most streamed artists on Spotify for the past five years. Most recently, his seventh album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, which was released on Jan. 5 of this year, acts as an ode to his beloved home country of Puerto Rico.

This album highlights the nostalgia and love he holds for his country as, in recent years, he has begun living in New York and Los Angeles as well as venturing into a more American market. The album, as well as the short film released in association with it, has received mass amounts of support and love as this time of highlighting the migrant lifestyle and insights into Latino lives.

With the attention stirring on his newest album, excitement and recirculation of his older albums are rising as well. 2022 was the third year in a row that Bad Bunny was the number one most streamed artist on Spotify, breaking his own record for most number of streams in a year with 18.5 billion streams. This was all due to the release of the album Un Verano Sin Ti on May 20. in 2022 and it is still his most successful album to date. 

With twenty-two songs, Un Verano Sin Ti is a full length album about partying on the beach and falling in and out of love and lust. Bad Bunny thrives at making heartbreaking songs for club and party settings and as the English translation for this album is “A Summer Without You”, it is a perfect outlet for just that. The album begins with the song “Moscow Mule” to open. This introduces the first section of the album which highlights partying and having casual relationships. This first song does well to hint at the yearning prominent in the second half of the album without straying from the carefree concept. “Después de la Playa” and “Me Porto Bonito” also boost up energy and excitement, including mambo merengue sounds and strong trumpets. 

This next part of the album begins to highlight not only the speaker’s desire for their situationship-esque partner, but the underlying fear they have of commitment. “Tití Me Preguntó”, debatably the most famous song on the album, creates a celebratory atmosphere with dembow sounds. This song, along with “Un Ratito” and “Tarot” set the scene of female worship, in the physical sense, as well as hint towards an insecurity and aversion to love from the speaker. However, one song that falls flat in lyrics is “Yo No Soy Celoso”, as the joking tone and unseriousness take away from the true uncertainty of the singer, but the bossa nova change is an enjoyable twist musically.

The next section of the album features a turning point for the storyline. The protagonist is ready to commit but the woman he is with is not. Despite the songs in this section being catchy, fun and sensual, this section follows the cliche theme of liking her because she “isn’t like other girls.” The song “La Corriente” even says so in those words, “Porque tú no eres como otra’, no Tú eres diferente” being the exact translation of that. This section also includes my favourite party song of the album, “Neverita”, which possesses a certain “je ne sais quoi” about it that makes it my favourite; as opposed to “Party” which is also fun and playful, with full DJ effects, but is not very serious. “Efecto” and “Aguacero” capture a sensual and flirtatious energy that keeps listeners hooked.

After this will-they-won’t-they we are rewarded with two songs of bliss and love. “Enseñame a Bailar” highlights happy moments of dancing in the sun with the one you love while “Ojitos Lindos” is peak love for these two. Bad Bunny and Bomba Estéreo express a deep passion through lyrics describing a love that feels almost meant to be. But Bad Bunny allows us to appreciate and enjoy happiness for these characters for only two songs before breaking them apart.

While this last half of the album is a bit mixed up in terms of the storyline, “Otro Atardecer”, “Un Coco” and “Un Verano Sin Ti” highlight the heartbreak of our protagonist as he tries to forget the woman he loved. The titular song does beautifully to encompass the entirety of the album, despite being on the slower side unlike the majority of the other songs. Even though the singer is having a good summer, not letting his heartbreak deter him, he can’t help but let the memory of her slip into his mind and think about the what-ifs of their relationship.

The rest of the album does not follow this storyline and while all of these songs are enjoyable within their own right, hearing them in a sit down full album setting is a bit jarring to the mind. This is due to the concepts beginning to jump around to different topics: “Dos Mil 16” is about wishing to go back to the past to be with the one you love; “El Apagón” features love for Puerto Rico, Latino pride and partying; “Andrea” highlights the struggle women endure in society and in love; “Me Fui de Vacaciones” is about resting and living it up on vacation; “Agosto” once again bounces back to being in love during the summer and not knowing what will happen after that; and “Callaita”, an incredibly popular song prior to the release of the album, is a sensual perreo anthem. One thing is for sure: this album highlights youthful fun through love and lust through culture, instruments and musicality.