Why does rapper Bad Bunny’s song Yonaguni have over 200 million views? Yonaguni town hall officials wonder
Bad Bunny’s music video “Yonaguni” has gotten over 200 million views in just over a month since being released on YouTube.
July 14, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Ryota Nakamura
In the month since its release on YouTube, the music video “Yonaguni,” titled after Japan’s westernmost island, as gained over 200 million views (as of July 13 in Japan). The song is the new release of the Puerto Rican reggaeton and Latin trap rapper Bad Bunny. However, he is not well known in Okinawa, and representatives from Yonaguni City Hall have given comments like, “I don’t know much more about it than I’ve heard in the news,” and wondered “I don’t know why, but it is titled ‘Yonaguni.”
Bad Bunny’s characteristic lethargy is representative of Latin trap music. The music videos he releases on hi YouTube channel regularly surpass 100 million views. A video he released in October, 2018 featured Canadian rapper Drake titled “MÍA” has over 1.2 billion views.
“Yonaguni was released on June 4. In the song, he sings in Spanish about a girl he has broken up with saying, “tell me where you are, and I’ll get on a flight for you. And I’ll go to Yonaguni. The “Yonaguni” in the song is figurative, signifying a distant separation.
In the music video, Bad Bunny starts the video on a set that resembles an izakaya or ramen shop, and it includes a scene where he gets a Pokémon go tattoo on his thigh. The video also ends with some Japanese lyrics while he walks through some cherry blossoms in an anime-style animated scene. The video also features images of karate and a beach that is similar to Yonaguni. Town officials say that it does not appear to actually be a beach on Yonaguni.
Contrary to the thought that the sheer magnitude of views would lead to a rush of inquiries, Yonaguni financial planning office department head Naganori Komine says, “As of now, there has been about on inquiry. Since we are working on establishing a high-speed ferry service between Yonaguni and Taiwan, it would be great if the name leads to some additional international recognition.”
(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)
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