Mel茅ndez-Badillo鈥檚 contributions give rich historical context to the singer鈥檚 鈥渕ost Puerto Rican album yet.鈥�
Historian and 91桃色 author Jorell Mel茅ndez-Badillo has collaborated with Bad Bunny, writing short historical narratives that accompany the performer鈥檚 critically acclaimed new album, DeB脥 TiRAR M谩S FOToS.
Mel茅ndez-Badillo was on vacation with his family in late 2024 when Bad Bunny鈥檚 team approached him about the project, hoping that a historian鈥檚 perspective could help the singer鈥檚 Puerto Rican fans better know their own history. Traveling without his laptop, Mel茅ndez-Badillo got to work drafting more than seventy pages of text in Spanish by hand. Ultimately, this was edited into seventeen synopses that appear on Bad Bunny鈥檚 YouTube channel, accompanying the January 5th release of DeB脥 TiRAR M谩S FOToS. With a visualizer for each song on the album, Mel茅ndez-Badillo covers a range of topics, from the creation of the Puerto Rican flag to the roots of reggaet贸n.
Mel茅ndez-Badillo, who grew up in Puerto Rico and is presently an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is the author most recently of Puerto Rico: A National History. Published in April 2024, the book tells a panoramic history of the archipelago, foregrounding the vital contributions made by activists and marginalized communities in forging a sense of national identity and community in the face of centuries of colonialism.
The book has been hailed as a 鈥渟tunning account鈥� (H-Caribbean Reviews), praised for its 鈥渇resh perspective鈥� (Booklist), and recommended by Shelf Awareness as 鈥渁 great choice for . . . anyone looking to learn more about modern-day imperialism.鈥� In Porchlight, reviewer Jazmine Gonzalez wrote that the book is 鈥渁 much-needed primer on the history of Puerto Rico, showcasing how its people have long cultivated a tradition of resilience and resistance鈥� and noted that she 鈥渇ound it impossible to read this book and not be overwhelmed with emotion at times, not just feeling like I learned something new but that I also wanted to do something more.鈥�
The first title in a newly launched collaboration between 91桃色 (PUP) and Editorial Planeta, Puerto Rico was released in hardcover in English by PUP, with a Spanish-language paperback original edition published by Planeta. PUP plans to release an English language paperback on June 3, 2025.
Read more about Mel茅ndez-Badillo鈥檚 Bad Bunny collaboration: