Bad Bunny Brings the Heat to Harlem

On September 20 at 6 PM, Bad Bunny’s fans tuned into his YouTube channel anticipating a concert in an empty area. Much to their surprise, the camera panned out to show the reggaeton artist dressed in all black with small rimmed shades standing on top of a a flatbed truck that looked like a graffitied subway car moving through New York City.

The highly anticipated concert from Bad Bunny was streamed live, but his fans didn’t expect to see him performing in the flesh from outside their windows. The mobile concert began at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx and made its way throughout heavily populated Latino communities of Washington Heights, Grand Concourse and Harlem. He sang many hits from his record breaking album “YHLQMDG” as well as duets with other singers who live streamed their performances from their native countries. J.Balvin live streamed from Colombia when the duo performed “La Canción.”

Social media immediately erupted into a frenzy, with hundreds of New Yorkers tracking the path of the truck in hopes of running into their favorite artist. Fans could be seen in the livestream running alongside the mobile stage as well as following behind on bikes and scooters. A Bad Bunny fan who lives in Burnside was making a quick grocery store run in the Bronx when she noticed the concert approaching. “I heard Bad Bunny and I just smiled and assumed someone was just blasting his music from their car,” she said. “The closer I got to the train station the louder it got, and when I got there and saw the bus and him on top, my heart just stopped. I was picking up something for my mom at the store, and I knew I was missing some of the concert online, but I wasn’t! He was right there in front of me.”

The concert took an unexpected turn when the truck changed course at Grand Concourse and made its way into Harlem. With the 137th Street-City College train station in the background, Bad Bunny made his way through the neighborhood. Store owners and fans alike crowded the streets to get a glance. “It was the best thing ever,” said Jaelene Valdez, a City College student. “He knows where his supporters are located. I wish he had hit Brooklyn, but Harlem is where it’s at. Being away from the Harlem area and campus for so long, thanks to COVID, gives me a little relief knowing these businesses are still open. It reminds me I miss campus.”

According to his Youtube channel, Bad Bunny’s concert broke records with over 10 million live viewers, setting the standard for the possible future of entertainment amid Coronavirus.

When New York Times Magazine author Carina del Valle Schorske, who just wrote a piece on Bad Bunny, saw on YouTube that he was in New York City, she ran to catch his final song in front of the Harlem Hospital Center. At the end, he thanked his fans. “I hope everyone had a good time,” he said. “I feel good things, I don’t know, I feel good things coming.”