Bad Bunny was born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio on March 10, 1994, in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, which is approximately 30 miles west of San Juan. Young Bad Bunny was a fan of reggaeton (a blend of hip-hop and reggae) and liked performers such as Daddy Yankee and Vico C. He sometimes got to hear reggaetonero Tego Calderón in the car on the way to school. Bad Bunny also listened to salsa, merengue and rock. At one point, his preferred music was the Bee Gees. Bad Bunny sang in the choir of his local Catholic church until he was 13. He then concentrated on making his own beats in his room and free-styling at school. Bad Bunny enrolled in the audiovisual-communications program at the University of Puerto Rico’s Arecibo campus. To support his studies, he bagged groceries at an Econo supermarket. Bad Bunny first began sharing his music on SoundCloud when he was still a college student. In 2016, the popularity of his song “Diles” resulted in calls from producers, which Bad Bunny had to answer while at work in the grocery store. After Bad Bunny found a manager, Noah Assad, the pair developed a plan to get attention by releasing singles and videos onYouTube instead of trying to sign with major record labels. Bad Bunny’s debut album X 100PRE came out on Christmas Eve 2018. It climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart. The record showcases Bad Bunny’s skills in multiple music genres, which provided a way for him to both cope with his success and demonstrate his abilities. X 100PRE received a Latin Grammy for Best Urban Music Album.
Bad Bunny shared the origins of his name in 2018. “When I was a little boy in school, I had to dress up as a bunny, and there’s a picture of me with an annoyed face. And when I saw it, I thought I should name myself ‘Bad Bunny,’” he explained. “It’s a name I knew would market well. A bunny is something so common that I thought to myself, every time someone sees one, they’ll remember my music.” and the rest is History.