Where is Bad Bunny From? The Rise of El Conejo Malo

The Rise of El Conejo Malo

Latin hip hop music took the 2000s and 2010s by storm with chart-topping hits from Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, and Daddy Yankee. Emerging from their wake is a new musical sensation who has stumbled upon that same level of success.

We’re talking about Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known by his stage name “Bad Bunny,” “El Conejo Malo”

Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and rapper that hails from Vega Baja, a municipality located 28 miles or 45 kilometers west of San Juan.

At only 27 years old, he boasts a smashing 89 singles, 3 top ten global hits, and the only all-Spanish LP album to debut at number one on the Billboard Top 200 chart. This is no easy feat for even the most seasoned of musicians, which makes Bad Bunny’s discography all the more impressive.

But, who was Bad Bunny before the fame? Read on to find out how growing up as an aspiring musician in a culture defined by music has influenced him!

Where Is Bad Bunny From?

‘El Conejo Malo’ was born in the Almirante Sur barrio of the Vega Baja municipality in northern Puerto Rico. His birthdate is March 10, 1994.

Almirante Sur is an impoverished community with its median household income coming in at $46,025 under the national average.

No strangers to this poverty, Bad Bunny’s parents did their best to support the family but they still struggled to make ends meet.

Being Puerto Rican is an important part of his identity, as he has said in numerous interviews that he is extremely proud of where he comes from. Growing up in Puerto Rico has facilitated great pride and love for his people and his country.

Who are Bad Bunny’s parents?

Bad Bunny was raised by his father, Benito Martínez, and his mother, Lysaurie Ocasio Declet. His father is a truck driver and his mother is an English school teacher.

He has two siblings of which he is the oldest of the three. Their names are Bernie, 23, and Bysael, 18.

The Ocasio brothers were very close growing up. Bad Bunny credits them with sharing in his excitement during the four or five times a year that their family would be able to travel to San Juan.

He also admits how the shocking physical similarities he shares with his brothers have confused people in the past.

Musical Influence

Traveling to San Juan with his family had a significant impact on Bad Bunny’s childhood. Along with encouraging bonding with his family, it also inspired his aspirations for a musical career.

Puerto Rican culture centers around music, which serves to unite, empower, and entertain the population. San Juan is the musical hub that is known for producing artists and hit songs alike.

So, Benito’s travels to San Juan as a child created the foundation for his interest in Latin music and culture. He began listening to the radio and took an immediate liking to Puerto Rican music legends Daddy Yankee, Héctor Lavoe, and Vico C.

His mother took notice of this and increasingly played both salsa music and Latin ballads in the house.

Not long after this was Benito beginning to write his own lyrics.

This often took place on the weekends, when cleaning the house while his mother’s music played inspired his first songwriting. This exposure to a wide range of Latin music helped him hone his own musical style, which emerged to have a significant rap influence.

Outside of his own emerging musical preferences, Bad Bunny sang in his church’s choir until he was 13 years old.

Growing Up – Outside of Music

Besides music, another passion that Benito inherited from his parents was wrestling. When he wasn’t listening to music or coming up with his own freestyle, he was cheering on his favorite wrestlers with his father.

A few years later, Benito moved north to try his hand at college. He attended the University of Puerto Rico Arecibo studying music and got a degree in Audiovisual Communications.

He bagged groceries at a local supermarket to pay for his education.

Bad Bunny’s Name and Rise to Fame

During his time at college, Benito created a SoundCloud account where he would upload his own Latin trap and reggaeton tracks.

Reggaeton is a fusion of American hip hop, Latin American, and Caribbean music unique to Puerto Rico and originating in the mid-1990s.

When he was deciding upon a name for himself, he landed on “Bad Bunny,” a nod to a childhood image of himself wearing a bunny suit and frowning. Originally intended to be a joke, the name stuck for good after what happened next.

Bad Bunny’s SoundCloud account steadily grew in popularity until one of his tracks, titled “Diles,” went viral in mid-2016. This song garnered a great deal of attention, amassing over one million plays in the first two weeks alone.

This song was created using a program called Fruity Loops, which was also used in the creation of the majority of his other early songs.

“Diles” attracted the attention of many record producers. Puerto Rican producer DJ Luian was the first to find the song and reach out to Bad Bunny.

Shortly after DJ Luian’s outreach, Bad Bunny’s phone received an onslaught of incoming calls from producers looking to sign him. He even said that producers would call him at work and that he would have to use the restroom to answer them.

DJ Luian credited Bad Bunny with reinvigorating Puerto Rican music with originality and appeal. He then signed Bad Bunny to his record label, Hear This Music.

After the success of “Diles,” Bad Bunny released other hits and quickly went on to become a household name in Latin countries all over the world.

Today, Bad Bunny is signed to Rimas Entertainment and Universal Music Latin Entertainment.

Current Endeavors

Since Bad Bunny’s rise to fame, he has featured on the songs of American megastars including Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B.

His popularity and talent even earned him 7 gramophone trophies at the 2020 GRAMMY Awards.

He also has his world tour titled “El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo” lined up for 2022, which fans have speculated could be his last ever. If you want to see Bad Bunny, Florida, California, and New York are among the many states he is set to stop at on the American leg of his tour.

This speculation is due to an Instagram post that the rapper made in April, as well as the high cost of tickets for his upcoming round of concerts.

If this is in fact his last tour, it seems likely that he will explore other avenues that he has shown interest in pursuing.

One of these avenues is professional wrestling, which he has dove into since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. He even made an appearance at this year’s Wrestlemania, teaming up with Damian Priest against John Morrison and The Miz.

From Small-Town Benito to Everyone’s Favorite Bunny

From Bad Bunny’s endearing childhood to his patriotic and successful career, is easy to see why he has garnered such an international name for himself!

At 27 years old with so much already under his belt, we can’t wait to see where his success takes him next.

Also read: Bad Bunny Makes His Red Carpet Debut with Girlfriend Gaby ¡Wepale, Benito! 

Want to read more about Bad Bunny’s recent endeavors or those of other successful Latino musicians? Check out our music or video tab now! Or watch The Zoo and join our discussion about Urban Latin music on The Big Deal
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