Bad Bunny arrives at the end of his major world tour Debí Tirar Más Fotos
ByMichael Mansfield
BBC NewsbeatReport ofTottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
Bad Bunny brought Latin America to London on Saturday night, becoming the first artist from that part of the world to headline a British stadium.
The Puerto Rican rapper captivated a star-studded crowd of around 50,000 at the first of two sold-out nights in Tottenham, with a celebration of Central and South American culture, communities – and even climate.
Fan energy levels defied the hot and humid conditions with a fiesta from start to finish.
But if the singer sent a message of solidarity to Venezuela following its devastating earthquakes, it was also an evening of contrasting emotions.
Transform London into London
Bad Bunny – real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio – is nearing the end of his Debí Tirar Más Fotos world tour.
And the 32-year-old performed with the understated confidence and charisma of an artist now perfectly at home on the world’s biggest stages.
The setlist was unsurprisingly dominated by the album that gives its name to the tour.
DTMF, as it is also called, made history at the Grammy Awards in February as the first sung entirely in Spanish to win the album of the year award.
Starting the show where the record ends, La Mudanza (The Move) set the tone for the evening – demonstrating their ability to blur genre boundaries, blending modern Latin rap and old-school salsa, backed by a live traditional band.
But several songs later, it was Nuevayol that really got the party started, as one of the standout singles that helped Bad Bunny break through to a more traditional British audience.
You don’t need to understand the lyrics – or have grown up with the most indigenous sounds – to get swept up in its universally danceable beats, cinematic samples and infectious hooks.
The biggest house party in the world? Much of the show took place on a second stage designed like a Puerto Rican-style house.
But for those invested in words, DTMF is also a deeply personal record – exploring loss and longing, against a backdrop of nostalgia and identity.
The themes were brought to life visually during this tour through a stunning stadium-wide production, with a Puerto Rican-style house at the back of the stadium serving as a second stage.
Known as La Casita, it gives the show a communal, intimate feel, placing it among the crowd – as if it were performing at the world’s biggest party in the local town evoked by the design.
Despite the size (and, no doubt, cost) of the show, it has a humble character – favoring simple, traditional imagery, over the high-tech mega-tracks of other contemporary stadium shows.
Bad Bunny doesn’t just remember his roots; he brings them to the forefront.
Stars on and off the stage
And the three-hour performance served as a reminder that his global success didn’t happen overnight, with him diving deep into his eight-year discography – crossing over fusions of trap and reggaeton.
Naturally, this created a relative lull in the set for those new to the singer and a welcome chance to catch their breath.
And the only disappointing moment of the evening came with the reveal of the “exclusive song” – a unique track that Bad Bunny adds to the set for each city.
Judging by the crowd’s slightly muted reaction, Cybertruck wasn’t what most were hoping for.
But there were more than enough simple and diehards in the crowd to keep the party going – including thousands from different diasporas waving their flags.
There were also a few celebrities, with Adele spotted in the stands, Maya Jama at La Casita and – a few days before Wimbledon – Novak Djokovic introducing a song.
For fans Grace (left) and Ruth (right), both 19, it was an opportunity to be proud of their Latin heritage.
In a stadium designed in part to host NFL games, the show shared the symbolism of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show – which was seen as a political statement celebrating the unity of all America.
Still, he said this world tour would not include U.S. dates, tell ID magazineexternal he feared his fans would be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
While speaking to the London crowd almost entirely in Spanish (after asking permission at the start), he made no direct political points – instead making more subtle references to the importance of people and places.
But the tour was widely interpreted as promoting multiculturalism and the preservation of identity.
It’s a message that resonates with his fans.
“We are here, we are Latino, we are proud,” says Grace, 19, from Dartford, half-Honduran.
“My culture is being represented – even though it’s through a Puerto Rican, it’s been incredible,” she told BBC Newsbeat.
On a big weekend for Spanish-speaking countries at the World Cup, friends Amelia (left) and Angélique (right) were among those looking forward to the soccer match after the concert.
Bad Bunny also paid tribute to the people of Venezuela, as the death toll continues to rise in the country following two major earthquakes on Wednesday.
“All Latinos around the world stand in solidarity with you,” he said.
This moment meant a lot to Miguel, 20, who is originally from London but has family in Venezuela.
“It’s incredible – with his influence and his power, to bring this to light – someone has to do it,” he says.
Fans learned the lesson from the album title
Debí Tirar Más Fotos translates to “I should have taken more photos,” with an underlying message of precious moments and memories.
Few left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with the same regret, if the sea of selfies and phones filming every chorus is anything to go by.
And although Bad Bunny is the first Latin artist to headline a British stadium, he won’t be the last: Colombian singer Karol G is set to play the same venue next summer.
The language barrier remains a barrier for many, but with artists such as Rosalía also filling venues, is there a cap on the rise of Spanish-language music in the UK?
For Grace, “there are still so many ‘metas’ – or goals – that she can achieve.”
“I feel like this is just the beginning.”
