Hay cosas que se tatúan sin tinta. Some things are tattooed without ink, as the translation goes. Rather, there are memories so precious, or emotional experiences so strong, they leave without a trace yet can never be erased.
“I cried the whole concert. I definitely am not going anywhere. I’m gonna give it my all, and I’m going to die in Puerto Rico,” says Zaritza “Zami” Cruz Montalvo, a Puerto Rican tattoo artist who attended “No Me Quiero Ir De Aqui,” Bad Bunny’s sold-out concert residency in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Born and raised on the island, she owns P.Ink Tattoo Studio in the Condado neighborhood of the capital city, a short drive from El Choli arena where she saw the show.
“You just want to hug your parents and your grandparents,” continued Cruz Montalvo. “Honestly, it was magical, and it was not because of Bad Bunny himself. It was the whole meaning of it. I felt the love and how important it is to preserve this all.”
For Puerto Rican rapper-singer Bad Bunny, preserving memories — and having something to show for them — are the very essence of his latest album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” which translates to “I Should’ve Taken More Photos.” The record-breaking album is an ode to Puerto Rico — its people, its land and its culture.
And as hundreds of thousands of people flock to his show this summer, some Bad Bunny fans are seeking more lasting souvenirs than a photo, shot glass or fridge magnet. “I couldn’t leave because walk-ins just kept on coming and coming and coming,” says Cruz Montalvo, who started sketching her Bad Bunny-themed tattoo ideas in January.
Adrianna Toledo, a Boricua tattoo artist known as “Versa” online, is the owner of 823 Tattoo Studio in the adjacent town of Carolina. She says this album is not just for partying but for learning the history of everything beautiful that Puerto Rico has to offer.
“ When I used to travel when I was a kid, sometimes we’d tell people that we live in Puerto Rico and most of the times, I can tell you, people asked us, ‘Where is that? Like, where’s Puerto Rico?’” she says. “And I feel like Bad Bunny has changed that.”
During a season that’s typically slow, tattoo artists across the island are seeing a sudden uptick in business due to the residency. Locals and foreigners are following their feed to viral tattoo shops, where artists have designed permanent souvenirs just for the occasion.
Even as some tattooists anticipated the demand with pre-drawn collections of Puerto Rican-inspired and Bad Bunny-themed flash tattoos, the volume has superseded their expectations.
Just one flash sheet on Instagram elicits thousands of likes, views and comments. As the residency continues to attract international attention, more fans — with and without connection to the island — are walking in for Bad Bunny tattoos.
And in turn, the artists are using this spike in interest as an opportunity to foster understanding and education.
“I believe in taking every opportunity as a teaching moment and explaining to that customer why I can’t do this [or] why I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Cruz Montalvo says. ” Part of what I love about tattooing is precisely this interaction: the experience, the connection, and not just doing it. I always try to give it my best and give my professional input on it. Everyone’s always very appreciative of it.”
During face-to-face consultations and sessions, the culturally significant “souvenir tattoos” have coalesced memories and inspiration into more collaborative conversations between artist and client. The conscientious local artists behind the ink, sweat and tears are generously guiding their clients in choosing meaningful symbols, while still protecting their heritage and values.
Among locals and people within the diaspora, some of the tattoos most recently in demand include dominoes (with the dots signifying special dates), the outline of the island, lyrics from the album (specifically, Mientras uno está vivo / Uno debe amar lo más que pueda, from the song “Baile Inolvidable”), and the iconic plastic chairs that cover the album art and lawns of family parties.
“If you’re going to have something permanent on your body, you need to know what it represents to us as Puerto Ricans, because if not, I believe it’s maybe even disrespectful to have something that has a lot of value to a culture,” says Alejandra Rosado Diaz, a tattoo artist known as Bechela across social media. She was mentored by Toledo and now works alongside her at 823 Tattoo Studio.
”That’s where I’m like, OK, so if you don’t understand that and you don’t automatically see that and feel and remember and have all those memories, then we could do these other designs that I have on the sheet, and it’s still very respectful. You’ll take away what you want,” Cruz Montalvo says on guiding non-Puerto Ricans on design choices.
The artists shared that visitors frequently request the island’s trilling amphibians: el coquí (common coqui) and el sapo de concho (Puerto Rican crested toad). Often conflated as one and the same, both native species have distinguished themselves in Bad Bunny’s visuals. Whereas the patinated coquí frog sadly made headlines after tourists reportedly disturbed the endangered species, the sapo de concho is the ochre toad — also critically endangered — that’s used as Bad Bunny’s avatar and mascot throughout the visuals for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.”
Yet the most popular design among those without Puerto Rican heritage is la flor de maga, or the national flower of Puerto Rico, whose aroma transports many Boricuas back to their grandma’s backyard. Though it’s gone viral, Rosado Diaz says people don’t often know the plant’s name or mistake it for an amapola, so she uses the pretty flower to spark conversation.
“That’s one when I try to correct people,” she says, “that it’s just not a flower, it’s a Puerto Rican flower, and we proudly represent it.”
As for the number of times Toledo has tattooed the flower in the last six weeks, she says at this point, she’s lost count. But to defend original artistry from the tyranny of internet virality — and continue giving customers a unique tattoo experience — Toledo and her team, including Rosado Diaz, are launching new flash sheets of souvenir tattoos almost every week. These tattoo designs have been viewed more than 70,000 times on TikTok and are echoing across generations.
“I have tattooed people from their first tattoo [at] 21 years old to people from 60 [or] 70 years old that say, ‘You inspired me to get a tattoo that represents what Puerto Ricans are and what Puerto Rico is,’” Rosado Diaz says. “And that gives me a lot of satisfaction that people are appreciating culture to a level that they’re getting it permanently on their bodies.”
With more Airbnbs popping up and more land privatized, buying property to start a small business is only getting pricier. As electric bills, housing costs and grocery costs increase, the likelihood that you’ll step into a tattoo studio owned by someone from the land decreases.
“The ones that stay, the ones that open up a business really have to love Puerto Rico, and have such high hopes for it because right now times are tough,” Cruz Montalvo says. “If I can take that opportunity to every client and bring some awareness of what’s going on in Puerto Rico and make them love the island and respect it a little more and make them want to come back, then to me it’s even more important than the tattoo.”
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