Who is Bad Bunny? Artist named Spotify’s most-streamed of 2020

You binge-streamed Dua Lipa’s new album over lockdown 1.0 and The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights anthem popped up so much on TikTok you basically listened to it on repeat for five days. The artist who’s beaten both to top of the global Spotify charts this year? A Grammy Award-winning pop superstar you may not have heard of.

Bad Bunny — real name Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio — is from Puerto Rico and at 26, he’s just become the most-streamed global artist of 2020. According to Spotify, the rapper racked up more than 8.3 billion streams on his songs this year, many of which can be attributed to his February-released album YHLQMDLG, which also won him 2020’s most-streamed album.

The album’s name is an abbreviation of “Yo hago lo que me da la gana”, Spanish for “I Do Whatever I Want”. Oh, and the lead song from his latest album, Dakiti, is also currently the most-streamed song in the world. Quite a big deal then.

So who is the global superstar and why have most of us never heard of him? Bad Bunny (the name comes from a childhood photograph of him grudgingly dressed as a rabbit) is one of the world’s leading reggaeton and Latin trap vocalists and has seen a rapid rise on YouTube and TikTok, with a cult following among younger and LGBTQ+ audiences.

But he has mainstream appeal. After releasing his music online while working in a supermarket in 2016, he hit the big time in the US two years ago after collaborating with Cardi B on the song I Like It. Since then, he’s worked with Drake, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Nicki Minaj.

His debut album X 100pre won a Latin Grammy, and he has been nominated for two awards at the 2021 Grammys.

As a straight man, he’s also helping to counter the macho culture of the traditional rap world, criticising homophobia and violence against women and labelled by some as a “queer icon”.

A flick through his Instagram shows a distinctive fashion sense challenging hyper-masculine stereotypes, with a penchant for bubblegum-pink fluffy headphones, short-shorts, rose-tinted sunglasses and painted nails.

He has a following of more than 179,000 and Vogue describes his style as “dorky” and “confident”

“He seems so happy with himself,” Vogue wrote. After today’s announcement, it’s not hard to see why.