Yale University will explore the global impact of Puerto Rican superstar, Bad Bunny, this Fall. Not on a stage, but in the classroom. Read more about his course inside.
According to Yale Daily News, Associate professor of American Studies, Albert Laguna, is offering a new course titled “Bad Bunny: Musical Aesthetics and Politics.” Designed to examine the cultural significance of the artist’s music, the class dives into deeper conversations about diaspora, identity, and the historical intersections of Puerto Rico and the mainland United States.
Laguna was inspired to develop the course after an immersive listening session with Bad Bunny’s latest album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana (referenced as Debí Tirar Más Fotos), while vacationing in New Orleans.
“I was walking around New Orleans, caught up in the Caribbeanness of the city, just listening to the album over and over again,” Laguna told the publication.
One track in particular, “Nuevayol,” sparked academic curiosity. The song samples “Un Verano en Nueva York” by El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico, highlighting the cultural bridge between Puerto Rico and New York City.
“You cannot tell the story of Puerto Rico from the 19th century to the present without New York,” Laguna explained.
Through this lens, the class will study how Bad Bunny’s music reflects the movement of people, culture, and politics across geographic and historical borders.
Students enrolled in the course will engage with the genres that shape Bad Bunny’s sound. From bomba, plena, salsa, and reggaeton, they’ll explore the music that makes him a global sensation while also unpacking the social and political contexts embedded in the music. Laguna emphasizes that these genres carry echoes of colonial histories and contemporary struggles, from mass migration to local policing on the island.
“You can ‘hear’ what the mass migration of Puerto Ricans made possible,” he said.
With 44 students already enrolled, the course represents a new wave of academic engagement with pop culture as a serious and meaningful tool for learning. As reggaeton’s global popularity continues to grow, so too does recognition of artists like Bad Bunny as cultural historians in their own right. At Yale, his discography is now not just a playlist but it’s a syllabus.
Bad Bunny forever.
