Benito’s Fourth of July Message

By: Alexis Shoats

Bad Bunny on the set of his music video NuevaYol

Bad Bunny has dropped a music video for "Nueva Yol," one of his hottest songs off his recent album. The music video was released on July 4th, America’s Independence Day. At a time when immigrant rights are constantly under attack, this video is a timely celebration of Puerto Rican culture and heritage in New York, as well as a push back against false claims against the community. Benito is no stranger to standing up for immigrant rights and speaking out against Donald Trump and his administration's ICE raids in Puerto Rico. 

As only Benito can, the artist makes various bold statements against the backdrop of a summer day in New York City. He puts the Puerto Rico flag on the Statue of Liberty, and even plays an AI version of Donald Trump apologizing to immigrants.

“I made a mistake. I want to apologize to the immigrants in America — I mean, the United States. I know America is the whole continent, I want to say that this country is nothing without the immigrants. This country is nothing without Mexicans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Cubans.” The speaker is promptly turned off, and we are led into arguably one of the best and poetic scenes of the video. Immigrant families from the Latin Diaspora are all in New York City. Family, friends, and couples living life and taking pride in their cultures.