Dangerous Bunny has a factor for shock drops. However previous to the shock drop of “nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana,” there have been a number of questions floating round. The apparent one was whether or not 2023 would come and go with no Dangerous Bunny launch. However there have been different poignant questions for Latine followers, too, like whether or not Dangerous’s relationship with Kendall Jenner would have an effect on his music — and whether or not he’d forgotten his roots and gone pop. And if the album, which was launched on Oct. 13 at midnight, is something to go by, Dangerous Bunny heard the whispers and has answered with a forceful “Oh, you must not know who I am?”

“nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana” is a powerful center finger of a venture that sees Dangerous Bunny taking his critics and haters to job over among the hardest lure beats he is rhymed over since “YHLQMDLG.” If Dangerous’s earlier launch, “Un Verano Sin Ti,” was a love letter to Caribbean music and island social gathering vibes, his newest is a return to harsher type and a return to the streets of Puerto Rico. In case you thought he went pop. In case you thought he fell off. In case you thought he acquired smooth. This album is very for you.

The intro monitor “NADIE SABE” sees Dangerous rapping over swelling instrumental strings with minimal snare or base. It places all of the concentrate on Dangerous’s voice, particularly his lyrics. That is much less a tune and extra the 29-year-old savant talking on to his followers and critics alike. And bars like, “Es verdad no soy trapero ni reggaetonero / yo soy la estrella más grande en el mundo entero” (it is true, I am not a lure star nor a reggaeton star/I am the largest star in the entire world) solely add to the gravitas of the monitor, making it clear that Don Benito isn’t going to let anyone speak down about what he is achieved as an artist. However as huge as he has turn out to be, he additionally leaves house for his compatriots to make their very own mark on the sport and on this album.

With 22 tracks general, el conejo malo shares various with lure legends in addition to rising stars of the brand new technology. “Thunder y Lightning” calls in stylistic maestro and Puerto Rican hip-hop star Eladio Carrion to go bar for bar over a sinister drill beat. Bryant Myers lends his gravelly voice to assist elevate “Seda” — which, with out his presence, can be a clean however fundamental lure ballad.

Whereas Dangerous has just a few songs like this, which sort out matters of misplaced loves and failed relationships, at its coronary heart, “nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana” is an album that’s at its greatest when it totally leans into the malianteo aspect of the style. “TELÉFONO NUEVO” and “MERCEDES CAROTA” do exactly that, that includes two of the toughest spitters out proper now: Luar La L and Yvng Chimi, respectively. Luar’s verse on “TELÉFONO NUEVO” is a stand out on an album filled with punchlines and lyrical flexing, delivered with a kind of violent pitch that few can match.

But over the course of 22 songs, there are bound to be a few missteps. And funnily enough, they come when Bad strays from the trap formula he’s established on this album. “PERRO NEGRO” is a pretty basic club perreo that ultimately comes off as too similar to some of the artist’s reggaetón classics to exceed them in any way. The second, more traditional reggaetón song on the album, “Un Preview,” fares much better and feels more authentic.

But while it would be easy to reduce “nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana” as simply Bad’s return to the trap stylings for which he first achieved acclaim, it’s more than that. Yes, it’s a trap album, but from the verses to the beats, it transcends anything else that’s out there right now. That’s the secret to Bad Bunny’s success. Everybody wants to sound like him, to capture that sound. But when he drops what he drops, he sounds like nothing anybody is doing. And even more than that is the simple fact that he knows what he’s doing.

Bad Bunny is digging through the crates of Puerto Rican music to show that reggaetón and trap are more than a sound or a style; they are a culture and history. Even before it was called reggaetón, it was a feeling that the pioneers channeled into song. That is the tradition Bad Bunny continues to uphold, and it comes across clearly in the album’s use of samples.

A long-standing tradition in hip-hop and the early days of reggaetón, “nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana” generously reaches back through the ages to give new life to bygone eras and yesterday’s hits. But it’s also more than a nostalgia trip. Pulling almost exclusively from reggaetón’s extensive catalog, Bad Bunny is making a statement about the depth of the urbano movement and the hand Puerto Rico has played in crafting it.

“FINA” is an absolute banger — it features Young Miko and samples the legendary Tego Calderon and his 2002 hit “Pa’ Que Retozen.” “NO ME QUIERO CASAR” retools the main melody of another Calderón song, his duet with Yandel, “La Calle Me Lo Pidió,” pairing it with an intro and outro that honors underground pioneers Maicol and Don Chezina, respectively.

And then there’s “ACHO PR.” Sampling Voltio’s 2005 banger “Chevere” and featuring verses from Nengo Flow, De la Ghetto, and Arcangel, it’s an ode to life on the island, its people, and the humble roots that went on to birth a global superstar.

Yes, Bad Bunny is addressing his haters on this album. Yes, he’s relishing his superstar status and comparing himself to Madonna and Rihanna. But for Boricuas especially, it’s so much more than that. In the same way “Un Verano Sin Ti” paid homage to Caribbean genres across the region, “nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana” pays homage to Puerto Rico itself. Bad Bunny understands that his success is intrinsically linked to those who came before him, as well as the surroundings and musical history that inspired him to first pick up a pen. He understands that, before everyone loved reggaetón, they were saying every song sounded the same, and that it all had the same beat. He understands that before it was reggaetón, it was called underground, and before that it was called dembow, and before that it was called rap y reggae. He understands that when nobody outside of the island was listening, his idols were making music that played with genre and broke the formulas so now he is free to do that in an even bigger way. Listen to De La Ghetto’s “Bloodbath Musical.” Listen to Arcangel’s “El Fenomeno.” Listen to the old Playero tapes and you will see the groundwork that allows us to have a Bad Bunny.

Dangerous is greater than a reggaetonero, greater than trapero, greater than a pop star: he’s a consultant of an island that continues to innovate and evolve music prefer it’s no one’s enterprise — an island that has had a direct hand in creating salsa, hip hop, reggaetón, and would possibly very nicely have a hand in creating no matter style comes subsequent. He’s a reminder that irrespective of how huge reggaetón or lure will get, how mainstream it turns into, what number of nations create their very own subgenre, everyone knows the place the crown will relaxation. And together with his newest album, with all of the eyes on him, ready for him to slide up, he delivers a few of his greatest work but.