Bad Bunny - El Último Tour Del Mundo
As it is with these creative artists who have the hustle and hunger to deliver the music they love to the fans. Puerto Rican Rapper/Singer Bad Bunny is one of them. After the release of his second album, Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana, his trend continued upwards as the previous year, the fantastic collaboration, Oasis with J Balvin. But that trend has skyrocketed downward with his last release, a compilation of throw-aways, and now El Último Tour Del Año. This wild ride of alternative pop rock and indie rock, and tracks that awkwardly remind us of the music of his we like, doesn’t deliver upon some expectations.
Unlike his previous outings, Bad Bunny has direct focus on taking from another influence of his youth and that is the audacious and melodic latin rock. That is where the album excels. The way it's incorporated with his style is refreshing, but he misses a lot of those moments where he shifts. On “Maldita Pobresa,” his soft pre-chorus over the lowly acoustic guitar is then transformed into this melodic guitar rock, with rifts reminiscent of rock artists like Los Lobos and Maná.
El Último Tour Del Mundo has many other strong points derived from the production on his more latin trap centric tracks, like on “Booker T,” and on “La Droga.” The latter of which gets its strong points from the rapid fire symbols and hi-hats subtlety adds more life to the bass and snare centric percussion and trap-like synths.
One good constant is the tracks he does with Rosaliá. On the duet, Bad Bunny goes toe to toe with her vocally and it delivers with strong lyricism and an elegant moody pop instrumental. His tracks with features are the album’s real strong points, like on the lead single “Dákiti,” smooth island trap sound bringing that flare most fans love.
However, the blending of genres has this audible confusion of what it wants to be. From the mix breed of alt rock with trap and latin rock mixed with trap pop isn’t a necessarily uninspired choice, but it sounds bi-polar for an artist who has always had direction. There are a lot of moments where the rock is effervescent on the forefront, though Bad Bunny keeps treading back to that sound that everyone expected. He didn’t really make party music and chose to show us more of him, and it’s commendable. But there is no consistency.
The simple lyricism and lack of expansion of thematic direction has El Último Tour Del Mundo feeling like it is consistently missing something to elevate higher. It has enough for the occasional fan to indulge and enjoy, but it doesn’t have enough to keep the truck on the album cover moving forward. Hopefully he comes stronger than ever next year, but for now….