LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii - Bad Bunny and Puerto Rican Gentrification

Eilidh Thomson

Rhode Island, USA

Photo by Alex George on Unsplash

In early January of 2025, Puerto Rican artist Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, more famously known by his stage name “Bad Bunny,” released his 6th studio album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (“I Should Have Taken More Photos”). The album was a raw, emotional tapestry woven from Puerto Rican music styles such as jíbaro, plena, salsa, and reggaeton depicting an image of Bad Bunny’s experience with the passage of time, identity, political commentary, and, thematically, the preservation of Puerto Rican culture.

The 14th track of the album “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” translating to “What Happened to Hawaiʻi1” was a touching warning and reminder of the history of American colonization and gentrification of Puerto Rico and other territories.  He refers to his homeland personally, and laments through his lyrics: 

Que no quiero que hagan contigo lo que le pasó a Hawái

I don't want them to do to you what happened to Hawaiʻi.

In 1898, following the United States victory over the Spanish in the Spanish-American War, Spain conceded their island colony of Puerto Rico, and the Star Spangled Banner waved in a new era of colonization to the tropic archipelago. That same year, the annexation of Hawaiʻi was finalized by Congress. 

Uncle Sam’s aggressive assimilation of his colonies into American culture and the English language occurred rapidly in Hawaiʻi. This was made easier by the devastation that preceded annexation: disease and colonial violence had decimated over half the Native Hawaiian population, and Queen Liliʻuokalani had been overthrown. With fewer people alive to carry on traditions, Hawaiʻi became deeply vulnerable to cultural erasure.

The United States implemented new governance and land policies that displaced Hawaiians from their ancestral land. They introduced a Western-style land tenure system, promoted English in public education to suppress Hawaiian language and values, and imported labor from the mainland and allied countries. These changes radically shifted Hawaiʻi’s demographics, accelerating the loss of native identity and autonomy.

Today, more native Hawaians live on the American mainland than live in Hawaiʻi, and industries such as tourism, national defense, and agriculture have continued to exhaust the island and displace traditions and people. The private island Niʻihau is the only place where people primarily speak Hawaiian. Only 200 people live on Niʻihau, meaning that just 0.01% of Hawaiʻi’s population primarily speak Hawaiʻi’s native language. 

While Hawaiʻi’s cultural transformation happened swiftly after annexation, Puerto Rico’s experience with American assimilation unfolded more slowly—but not less painfully. The native language of Puerto Rico, Taíno, had already been eliminated by Spanish colonizers by the time the United States entered the scene, and Spanish was the dominant language. Unsatisfied, the American government immediately began anglicization, and mandated English as the language of instruction in Puerto Rican schools. Resistance from Puerto Ricans held firm, and Spanish remained the dominant language of the territory, which factored in the United States decision to keep Puerto Rico a territory, and not make it a state if they refused to speak English as their official language. 

No, no suelte' la bandera ni olvide' el lelolai

No, don't let go of the [Puerto Rican] flag nor forget the lelolai2

Evidently, Puerto Ricans have historically kept as firm a grip on their tradition and Spanish heritage as possible, but many challenges have persisted. 

Se oye al jíbaro llorando, otro má' que se marchó

No quería irse pa Orlando, pero el corrupto lo echó

You hear the jíbaro3 crying, another one who left

He didn’t want to go to Orlando, but the corrupt man kicked him out

For instance, Act 60 - combination of Acts 20 and 22 - promotes investment in Puerto Rico through tax incentives such as zero tax on passive income, capital gains, dividends, or interest. This “tax haven” has provided opportunities for wealthy outsiders or “el corrupto” to buy as much land as possible for investments. Consequences of this have been rising property values, increased housing costs, and the displacement of long-time residents. Essentially, Puerto Ricans are struggling to afford to live in their own neighborhoods, forcing many families to leave their homes against their wishes. To make matters worse, a history of poor funding and political problems have weakened the island’s infrastructure which contributed to the catastrophic damage and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that followed Hurricane Maria in 2017. As Bad Bunny comments on, many are emigrating to Orlando, or other areas of Florida. From 2014-2018, nearly 100,000 people left the island for other U.S. destinations every year. Approximately 649,000 Puerto Ricans migrated out of Puerto Rico over the last 12 years. Now, more native Puerto Ricans live in Florida than live in Puerto Rico. Simultaneously, thousands of “outsiders” or “gringos” migrated into the territory and took advantage of the land opportunities left behind by the Puerto Ricans. 

Quieren quitarme el río y también la playa

Quieren al barrio mío y que abuelita se vaya

They want to take away the river and also the beach. 

They want my neighborhood and for grandma to leave.

Despite these abuses, Puerto Ricans have been fighting back against gentrification in various ways, including protests, artistic expressions, and community organizing. For example, Organizations like the Ko Martin Pena Community Land Trust are working to establish collective ownership of land, protecting affordable housing and preventing displacement. On the coast, protests have been organized to oppose the privatization and development of the island’s beautiful beaches. Bad Bunny, an artist with 82.5 million monthly listeners on spotify, billions of streams, and international adoration has been using his platform and songwriting to bring awareness to this issue on a global scale. From July 11 to September 14, 2025, he is also holding a 30-show residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico called "No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí" (“I Don't Want to Leave Here”), with all 30 shows already sold out - and the first nine restricted to Puerto Ricans only. This has already generated millions in revenue for the Puerto Rican economy, and Bad Bunny hopes to bring many international tourists to his homeland, not to buy parts of it or contribute to its gentrification, but to see it for its vibrancy and the life local Puerto Rican culture brings and therefore the importance of its preservation. 

Bad Bunny’s “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” is more than just a song—it is a cultural warning, a love letter, and a battle cry. Through his music, he reminds us that what happened to Hawaiʻi is not just a historical tragedy, but a living threat to Puerto Rico’s identity, land, and people. His lyrics, steeped in memory and mourning, amplify the voices of those who resist erasure—not with weapons, but with pride, tradition, and art.

As gentrification tightens its grip and policies like Act 60 invite a new wave of economic colonization, Bad Bunny urges Puerto Ricans to hold fast—to the jíbaro’s cry, to the lelolai, to the flag, and to the stories that have kept their culture alive through centuries of resistance. In remembering Hawaiʻi, he asks us not to forget Puerto Rico.

But this isn’t just Puerto Rico’s fight. It’s a global one. Because the beauty of our world lies in its diversity, and every culture lost to greed or negligence is a loss for all of us. To protect Puerto Rican culture is to protect something universally human: the right to remember, to belong, and to stay rooted in the place we call home.

1 Bad Bunny refers to Hawaiʻi as “HAWAii” in the song’s title due to his creative choice to make his titles have unique capitalization patterns. He makes the “ii” the only non capitalized part of this title, which is important because it is the anglicized spelling of Hawaiʻi used by English speakers and the American government, which is a subtle commentary on the forced anglicization of Hawaiʻi by the United States. In the lyrics, Hawaiʻi is spelled by Bad Bunny as “Hawái” as that is the Spanish spelling. For purposes of the article and out of respect for the native language and culture of Hawaiʻi, when not directly referring to the title or lyrics of the song, Hawaiʻi is spelled with a reverse apostrophe between the two “i”s at the end of the word called an “okina.” 

2. "Lelolai" is a vocal improvisation used in traditional Puerto Rican music.

3. “Jíbaro” is a traditional, self-sustaining farmer who works the land in a traditional way. The term is modernly used as a symbol of the Puerto Rican people and their connection to the land.