Feature

“DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” and Boricua Resistance Against U.S. Colonialism.

Bad Bunny’s new “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” album has released as a love letter to Puerto Rico, but there is more to be said from PR’s biggest artist.

Brandon Josué Herrera Vázquez, Staff Writer

January 13, 2025

Brandon Josué Herrera Vázquez, Staff Writer

(Photo by Brandon Josué Herrera Vázquez)

"DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS" and Bad Bunny's Continued Advocacy

"DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS," Puerto Rican artist Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known by his artist name "Bad Bunny," released as his sixth studio album the 5th of January, putting Puerto Rico on the stage.

DTMF is rich in Boricua sounds and artistry, a clear love letter from Martínez Ocasio to his home and its people, but that's not all the album set out to accomplish.

Leading up to the release of DTMF, Martínez Ocasio released a short film under the same title, addressing the U.S' colonial practices in Puerto Rico. The film follows an older Martínez Ocasio played by Jacobo Morales, a Puerto Rican filmmaker and poet, as he views Puerto Rico having transformed into a colonial state of the U.S, a "Puerto Rico without Puerto Ricans."

DTMF is full of political advocacy from Martínez Ocasio against the turning of PR into a U.S. state, with songs such as "LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii," comparing U.S. colonialism in Hawai'i to that of Puerto Rico as a lesson to be learned, and pleading his fellow Boricuas to keep their PR flags raised in defiance to encroaching U.S. influence.

Boricua protest against statehood and encroaching U.S. influence over the island. (Photo by Daniela Pelaez Vázquez)

Boricua Resistance and its History

The raising of flags is important in Puerto Rico's history, as in 1948 Puerto Rican legislation passed the "Ley de La Mordaza" or "Gag Law" to stifle Puerto Rican independence movements. This law forbid the donning, owning, or display of any Puerto Rican flag, seen as an act of advocating for independence from American colonialism.

As stated by Pedro Caban within his lecture, a professor at the University of Albany for Latin American and Caribbean studies, "The elimination of internal dissent was necessary to eradicate the perception that Puerto Rico was anything less than a democratic, self-governing territory that had voluntarily assigned a compact of permanent association with the United States."

"The law prohibited the possession or exhibition of the Puerto Rican flag," says Jorge Fornes, a Puerto Rico native. "It even prohibited the singing of any patriotic songs to do with Puerto Rico... it sought out to stifle the independence movement on the island."

(Photo by Daniela Pelaez Vázquez)

Martínez Ocasio and Puerto Rico's Political Advocacy Future

Martínez Ocasio has consistently throughout his career advocated for Puerto Rico against U.S. colonialism, endorsing Juan Dalmau of the Alianza de País party, an anti-colonial and progressive political party in PR, for Puerto Rican's governor elections.

Martínez Ocasio has in the past paid for billboards across Puerto Rico criticizing the current party in power, the "Partido Nuevo Progresista" or PNP, stating that "a vote for PNP is a vote for corruption" and "who votes for PNP does not love Puerto Rico."

This continues his trend of being extremely critical of the party, mostly due to their lackluster response to energy crises across Puerto Rico and alleged rampant corruption amongst the party and energy companies.

Puerto Rico has had a long history of fighting against U.S. colonialist practices, and Bad Bunny's "DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS" is another form of modern-day resistance.

About the Contributor

Brandon Josué Herrera Vázquez, Staff Writer

BJHV, Class of 2025 is a staff writer for The Red & Black. On campus, his main goal is to achieve the highest possible academic success while helping the Latino & Indigenous student body in any way possible. In his free time, he enjoys literature, especially Chicano and Latino/Indigenous poems, and is a writer and poet himself.