Why Do Some Fans Think Bad Bunny ‘Stole’ The ‘Safaera’ Beat From Reggaeton Artist Álvaro Díaz?

An unearthed video is once again pouring some boiling-hot tea into Bad Bunny’s creation of his hit track “Safaera.”

“Safaera” featuring Jowell & Randy and Ñengo Flow was an immediate hit when Bad Bunny released “YHLQMDLG” in February 2020. While we were all locked in our homes during the pandemic just two weeks later, many imagined themselves perreando on the dancefloor while listening to “Safaera” on their headphones. People even connected with their abuelas with a hilarious TikTok challenge.

Well, by May 2020, El Conejo Malo fans woke up to a shocking discovery: “Safaera” was removed from Spotify. While it came back to the platform that very same month, Spotify’s statement struck fans as pretty odd.

At the time, the platform explained on X, “[‘Safaera’] was temporarily unavailable because of a claim that a sample in the track was not properly licensed.” Hmm, interesting.

That statement sent fans down a rabbit hole that involved fellow Puerto Rican artist Álvaro Díaz. However, he soon cleared up the chisme— and responded to allegations that Bad Bunny “stole” the “Safaera” beat from him. Here’s everything to know!

An unearthed video of Puerto Rican artist Álvaro Díaz shows he made a song with the “Safaera” beat, too

Once “Safaera” was back on Spotify by May 2020, things weren’t exactly peachy from there on out. In fact, by October 2021, Florida-based AOM Music Inc. sued Bad Bunny, his collaborators, and producer Tainy for copyright infringement in connection to the song.

This was after Missy Elliot was credited for the sample use of her hit “Get Ur Freak On.” In fact, as per Billboard, this lawsuit centered on the “unauthorized incorporation” of DJ Playero’s “Besa Tu Cuerpo,” “Chocha Con Bicho,” and “Sigan Bailando.” However, there is no word on whether this was why Spotify removed “Safaera” for a while.

However, fans continued to dive deep into the creation of this song. At that point, many started saying Bad Bunny “stole” the “Safaera” beat from Álvaro Díaz. Why? Well, because of an unearthed Instagram Live recording of Díaz in the studio with Tainy:

In the video, you can see the “Problemón” singer jamming out to one of his own upcoming songs in the studio. He says, “This is the last preview I’m going to show, the last one.” At that point, you can hear that classic “Safaera” intro… and then his own rap. What?!

Memes continued to pop up, including this one, which reads: “They had given Bad Bunny’s ‘Safaera’ beat to Álvaro Díaz first, but they always want to [push him down].”

So what does Díaz have to say about all of this?

The Puerto Rican rapper later defended Bad Bunny on a podcast and called Tainy his “family”

Díaz eventually made his way onto Héctor Elí’s podcast “El Flowcast,” where he spoke out about the “Safaera” drama.

“People have tried to sell [the situation] as if it’s something bad, or I’m angry, but it’s not like that,” he explained. “The ‘Safaera’ song is by Tainy, and we always talked about that, and anyone could take it.”

“It’s not like that, like, I’m about to release a song, and they tell me, ‘You can’t release it because we gave the beat to someone else.'”

In fact, Díaz expressed how happy he is for Bad Bunny and Tainy regarding the major “Safaera” success.

“Tainy is my family,” he described. “If I created an idea with Tainy that could benefit him, then I’ll let it happen. I know if I create an idea with him that could benefit me, he’ll also make it happen.”

Still, on social media, the rhetoric on the situation continues to be divided. On one side, some say Bad Bunny “stealing” the “Safaera” beat is “the best thing to happen to reggaetón in years.” Meanwhile, others felt pretty heartbroken about Bad Bunny using the beat instead of Díaz:

At the time, some admitted to feeling “angry” about Díaz not using the “Safaera” beat. One X user said, “Tainy gave hits that were for [Díaz] to Bad Bunny… The beats for ‘Safaera’ and ‘Pa Romperla’ were Álvaro Díaz’s first.”

To this day, some fans still joke about Díaz’s possible reaction to seeing Bad Bunny after the beat fiasco:

And as many others put it, they believe Díaz would have made it “even cooler than Bad Bunny did”:

We’ll never know!