From grocery bagger in Puerto Rico to one of the most influential voices in global music, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio – better known as Bad Bunny – has rewritten the playbook for Latin artists everywhere. Born in 1994 in the tight-knit town of Almirante Sur, Vega Baja, his road to superstardom was anything but predictable.
Back in 2016, he was just another kid uploading tracks to SoundCloud between shifts at the supermarket. But even then, Bad Bunny had something unmistakable – a willingness to break the rules. His music isn’t boxed in by genre: one moment he’s rapping over classic reggaeton, the next he’s mixing in rock riffs or synth-pop vibes, pushing Latin trap in directions nobody expected. This boundary-blurring is what catapulted him to fame, whether it was dropping a surprise album mid-lockdown (“El Último Tour Del Mundo” in 2020) or arriving at the Met Gala in a skirt and making headlines for it.
Lyrically, he switches gears effortlessly – from swaggering confidence to heartfelt vulnerability, often all within the same track. Take “Yo Perreo Sola”: what sounds at first like a party hit is actually a powerful statement against harassment. Or listen to “El Apagón” – it’ll get you moving, but at its core, it’s a sharply worded protest about Puerto Rico’s power grid crisis. Bad Bunny’s music never shies away from the realities he and his listeners face.
Behind the Bunny: His Private Life
Despite his fame (and Instagram-worthy fashion moments), Bad Bunny guards his private life with almost old-school discretion. His romantic timeline is less about scandal and more about evolving along with his career.
He started out with Carliz de la Cruz, his college sweetheart, whom he dated from 2012 to 2017, long before the world knew him as Bad Bunny. As his life snowballed into fame, that relationship quietly ended, making way for something new with Gabriela Berlingeri in 2017. Berlingeri wasn’t just a partner but a collaborator: she lent her voice to the track “En Casita” and even helped record songs like “Te Gusté.” Instead of hiding her from the spotlight, Bad Bunny embraced a creative partnership, letting fans in just enough to see their bond – but never turning it into tabloid fodder.
Then, in 2023, rumors swirled about his romance with Kendall Jenner. The two managed to keep things under the radar (as much as possible for two global celebrities), snapped going horseback riding in Wyoming, sitting courtside at NBA games, and attending Drake’s concert together. Still, neither confirmed anything publicly, and by the end of 2023, reports circulated that they’d split, as quietly as they’d begun.
There’ve been other whispers – like a short-lived link to Mexican reality star Manelyk González in 2018 – but Bad Bunny rarely fuels the rumor mill. In a 2020 Rolling Stone interview, pressed about his love life, he responded simply: “I think love is the most important thing in life.” No gossip, no drama – just a reminder of what matters to him.
What stands out about Bad Bunny’s approach to relationships is his respect, both in music and real life. You won’t hear him take shots at exes in his lyrics or air out dirty laundry online. Instead, his songs dig into the nuance of love, heartbreak, and everything in between, without ever turning personal experiences into public spectacle. In an industry that thrives on drama, his self-restraint feels almost revolutionary.
Past Relationships
Kendall Jenner
Manelyk González
Gabriela Berlingeri
Carliz de la Cruz
For all his onstage bravado and headline-grabbing style, Bad Bunny’s philosophy on relationships is unexpectedly grounded – find someone who understands your world, keep what matters most private, and when things change, just move forward with respect. In this age of oversharing, that attitude feels like its own kind of rebellion.