On May 6, 2022, Benito Ocasio Martínez, more commonly known as Bad Bunny, dropped the album of the summer — and arguably, of the year — “Un Verano Sin Ti”. The album features 23 songs and features from prominent artists including Chencho Corleone, Jhay Cortez, Rauw Alejandro and many more. 

His album provided a lively, tropical soundtrack for the summer after a lockdown. Even in the colder months, listening to the album’s lyrics — which never miss — transports listeners to a warm beach. My favorite tracks from this album include “Enséñame a Bailar”, “Tarot”, “Neverita” and “Me Porto Bonito”. Outside of the music itself, the music videos for the tracks on this album are creative and enhance the listening experience by adding more depth to the tracks themselves — set against backdrops from Martinez’s native Puerto Rico and Miami. 

The album stands out among other Latin albums this year because of Martínez’s ability to combine multiple different genres of Caribbean music together. In my opinion, the combination of these unique genres creates an album that embodies the spirit of current Caribbean Latin music. The upbeat and exciting tracks on this album have an effect on all listeners — even those who don’t speak Spanish can enjoy the vivacious energy that this album brings.

Most of the music on this album revolves around the subject of lust over various women with occasionally more romantic lyrics. Many of the songs on the latter half of this album are more emotional and carry less party energy until the last track, “Callaita”. Songs such as “Tarot” and “Ojitos Lindos” are sweeter and more romantic tracks which still bring an energetic listening experience. If you’re looking for relatively relaxed and low-key tracks, consider “Efecto” or “Aguacero”, but if you want tracks with unmatched “hype” energy, try “El Apagón” and “Tití me Preguntó”. 

“Un Verano Sin Ti” made history this year by being the first Spanish album to be nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy award. At the Latin Grammys on Nov. 17, Martinez won five out of the ten awards he was nominated for just this year — two of those awards being for “Un Verano Sin Ti”. Martínez won the best Urban/Trap award at Premio lo Nuestro, the most streamed song award at the Spotify awards, and won an award at the ASCAP Latin awards for “Callaita” when it was a single featured as a bonus track in 2020, and now has won Best Urban Music Performance and Best Urban Song awards at the Latin Grammy Awards for “Tití me Preguntó”.

The album’s only drawback is its lack of variety, with the majority of the songs being chill tracks. But when it comes to an album created to be an album of the summer, this aspect is less vital than it would be for other albums. The value this album presents extends past a summer soundtrack with tracks that boost listeners up. If you haven’t had the chance to listen to this musical masterpiece yet, I’d suggest listening to it when in need of positive energy.