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From Song to Social Movement: The Cultural and Online Impact of “El Apagón” by Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny’s newest album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, is a love letter to his beloved island of Puerto Rico and a message to the world of the Puerto Rican diaspora that the island is facing. However, this isn’t the first time he’s done this through his music.



On May 6, 2022, Bad Bunny released his fourth solo studio album, “Un Verano Sin Ti”. One of the tracks on this album was El Apagón. This song wasn’t just another reggaeton hit — it was a cultural statement and a rallying cry for Puerto Rico.


More than just a song, El Apagón blends infectious rhythms with social commentary, addressing the island’s ongoing struggles with power outages, gentrification, and displacement. The accompanying short film further amplifies its message, highlighting the real-life consequences of privatization and economic inequality.


Shortly after this release, El Apagón took on a life of its own through social media, where TikTok videos, Twitter discussions, and YouTube reactions transformed it into a digital protest. Fans and activists alike used the song as a soundtrack to voice their frustrations, creating a viral movement that extended far beyond the music industry.


What I want to see is how this fusion of sound, visuals, and online engagement turned El Apagón into more than just a song. By analyzing streaming data, social media trends, and audience reactions, I’ll uncover the true impact of Bad Bunny’s anthem of resistance.


Metadata


  • Title of the track- El Apagón

  • Length- 3:21

  • Release date- May 6, 2022

  • Genre- Latin

  • Mood- Social Justice, Revolution, Protesting (as stated in Chartmetric)

  • ISWC- T-310.434.103–5

  • ISRC- QM6MZ2214890

  • Record Label- Rimas Entertainment LLC

  • Name of the songwriter-

Bad Bunny, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — 0000 0004 6637 3221 (ISNI) / 00838031446 (IPI)

Borrero Marco Daniel — 00557274329 (IPI)

Joselly Rosario — 00588472399 (IPI)

Hector L. Pagan — 00588475488 (IPI)

Jose Jr. Roberto Rosado Torres — 00861305746 (IPI)


Lyrical and Visual Analysis


Bad Bunny’s El Apagón is more than just a song — it’s a powerful statement about Puerto Rico’s ongoing struggles with colonialism, gentrification, and infrastructure failures.


In its lyrics, the song blends pride and defiance, celebrating Puerto Rican identity while also criticizing the inequalities that have plagued the island. Lines like “Yo no me quiero ir de aquí” (“I don’t want to leave here”) reflect the frustration locals feel from being pushed out due to gentrification. (This is further reinforced by the name of his most recently announced 2025 tour within Puerto Rico only, “No Me Quiero Ir De Aquí”)



The music video and accompanying short film, Aquí Vive Gente, deepen the song’s political impact. Rather than just a typical music video, it shifts into an investigative journalism piece.

Led by a local independent Puerto Rican reporter, Bianca Graulau, the short film exposed how wealthy investors and government policies have displaced Puerto Ricans from their homes. The visuals of blackouts, protests, and local residents speaking out serve as a stark contrast to the song’s vibrant, celebratory sound — unveiling it as a protest anthem disguised as a club banger.


Unlike traditional protest songs, which often rely on somber tones, Bad Bunny delivers his message through infectious reggaeton beats, making activism accessible and easy to infiltrate to a mainstream audience to hopefully bring awareness to the problems faced by the Puerto Rican people and lift it to a global stage.

(Highly recommend watching the full video below!)


Data


  • As a measure of the song’s reach and engagement, I used the number of Spotify streams, YouTube views, Shazam counts, and radio airplay. I obtained radio airplay data from WARM (dating from Nov 2024-Feb 2025), while Spotify, Shazam, and YouTube data were collected from Chartmetric. Additionally, I analyzed TikTok activity, including the number of posts and views, to assess the song’s viral impact on social media.


  • I focused on the time period from when it was released to February 2025.


Curation Process


  1. Tableau Prep

  2. On Tableau Prep, I started by preparing the data I gathered: radio airplay, YouTube views, Spotify streams, TikTok views, and Shazam counts. I formatted the date as M/D/Y and excluded any abnormal data such as duplicates and blank data.

  3. Once that was done, I created the outflow and ran the flow.


2. Tableau Desktop

  • Moving on to Tableau Desktop, I created graphs to show the evolution of trends of the song on multiple platforms and sudden peaks surrounding certain periods of time and events.

Check out and follow along with the Tableau Dashboard I created as you read the following analysis.


Analysis


The data I gathered and then organized into the Tableau dashboard showcases how El Apagón functioned as both a cultural and social phenomenon.


The song gained strong intial traction over multiple platforms like TikTok and YouTube but, over time, it was evident that its longevity is mostly driven by Spotify streaming rather than any short-term viral engagement or content. However, recent peaks in engagement suggest external influences — such as political events or social discussions. Given that the sudden resurgence ocurred in the last quarter of 2024, such an event might’ve been the 2024 US elections.



The YouTube views for El Apagón also exhibit fluctuations throughout the months. Its most noticiable peak in October 2024, which surpassed 500 million views, also suggests the ocurrence of a significant event that caused a renewed interest in the song.


Before then, its numbers were lower but relatively steady which indicates a sustained level of engagement. This further reinforces that while YouTube played a role in the song’s impact, its most significant spikes in popularity were more likely event driven.


The bar graph on TikTok posts also seems to align with this analysis. The data suggests that engagement on the platform was consistent with noticeable peaks at certain months, particularly in October, most likely driven by trends, challenges, or political events/discussions.



Lastly, the data highlights El Apagón’s strong and lasting presence in Latin America, Spain, and the US with some additional reach in Europe and Africa. The song reflects the experiences of not just Puerto Rico but also other countries in Latin America and its happy infectious beats landed it into mainstream music in the US.


While there are minor shifts in airplay and duration, the song maintains a significant footprint across radio stations globally, reinforcing its cultural impact beyond streaming platforms.



Limitations


  • Unknown external factors such as holidays might have affected airplay trends.


  • Limited data sources: If I could, I would’ve liked to have more data on different platforms such as Instagram and Apple Music. Additionally, I would’ve preferred having radio airplay data dating all the way to when it was released to get an accurate comparison.


  • The pie charts show song duration per country, but don’t account for listener engagement. A song being played frequently in one country doesn’t necessarily reflect its popularity when compared to other regions.


  • I didn’t take into account any potential re-releases or remixes of the song which might have affected its random peaks in popularity.


  • Changes in listener habits may have declined and moved toward digital platforms therefore, reducing a reliance on traditional radio airplay, making the trend seem to decline even if the song remained popular overall.


Conclusion


Through the fusion of sound, visuals, and online engagement, El Apagón became more than just a song — it became a cultural movement, and the data seems to back that up. (Further research and analysis is needed however.) The track has sparked conversations and resonated with listeners worldwide.


Streaming trends show significant engagement, particularly on Spotify and TikTok, while YouTube views remained consistent. Radio airplay data indicates strong international reach, with notable variations across countries.


However, limitations such as missing data from additional streaming and social media platforms, external seasonal influences, and shifts in music consumption habits suggest that the full extent of the song’s success might be even greater.


Overall, we can see how this song resonated far beyond the msuic industry. Spikes in all the previously mentioned platforms all point to this being a track that sparked conversations, activism, and a deep emotional connection with listeners. El Apagón stands as a powerful example of how music, especially with a strong and resounding message, can make a statement resonate globally and sustain engagement over time.

 
 
 

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