Bad Bunny opens Puerto Rico residency showcasing island’s folklore, denouncing gentrification

Bad Bunny‘s sweeping first concert of his three-month Puerto Rico residency was a night of palpable emotion for the megastar whose latest smash artistic endeavor brings his global stardom back to his roots.

The marathon show in San Juan late Friday was flush with styles — from club beats and high-octane salsa to folkloric dance and soulful acoustics.

At one point, the enormously popular Bad Bunny — born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — appeared to pause to soak in the moment, breaking into a heartfelt smile as he gazed out at his thousands of ecstatic compatriots.

Savoring the present and honoring the past is a lesson taken from the 31-year-old’s sixth album “Debi Tirar Mas Fotos” (“I Should Have Taken More Photos”) and a theme the residency is celebrating, with a full-throated ode to Puerto Rican heritage.

The ambitious setlist included many of Bad Bunny’s most recent tracks that underscore injustices in the U.S. Caribbean island territory, but the evening was one of celebration: a lens on Puerto Rico that focuses on its resistance, pride and joy.

The first song was previously unreleased, and there were no details on whether the track would eventually have an official drop.

Some fans online speculated that perhaps he’ll keep it exclusive to the residency.

That would be a fitting move for the artist who, after a blazing burst to global fame that saw him briefly move to Los Angeles, has returned home and intensified his efforts to make music about Puerto Ricans, for Puerto Ricans.

The first nine shows of his 30-concert stretch, which will take over San Juan’s Coliseo for consecutive three-day weekends into September, are only open to Puerto Rican residents — and the odd celebrity like LeBron James, who attended Friday night.