This weekend, rapper Bad Bunny will make his debut on Saturday Night Live as the show’s musical guest, prompting many fans to marvel at his success. Bad Bunny — whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — has skyrocketed to the upper echelon of the music industry in recent years, and he has made a fortune along the way. According to an estimate by Celebrity Net Worth, Ocasio’s personal wealth is around $16 million.
Ocasio hails from Puerto Rico and is renowned for bringing reggaeton, bachata and other Latino musical styles to the mainstream. He achieved huge success on the music-sharing site SoundCloud, earning a record deal and, from there, getting the chance to collaborate with the likes of Cardi B and Drake. Ocasio’s own releases have won him a Latin Grammy Award, and he has gone on to some major performances, broken some streaming milestones and branched out into other forms of fame.
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Bad Bunny was working as a bagger at a grocery store in his home of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico when he hit his big break. He was also studying at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo and releasing music on SoundCloud regularly. He signed a record deal with DJ Luian of Heart this Music, and went on to make a fortune on streaming apps like Spotify and Apple Music.
Another breakthrough came when Ocasio joined Cardi B and J Blavin for “I Like It,” a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Shortly after that, his song “Mia” with Drake reached number five. Two months after that, he released “Te Guste,” a collaboration with Jennifer Lopez.
That last collaboration helped Ocasio secure his spot in the 2020 Super Bowl half-time show, where he performed with Lopez. At the same time, he was releasing his second studio album, which became the first all-Spanish-language album to reach the top of the U.S. Billboard 200. At the end of 2020, Ocasio was the first non-English language musician to be named Spotify’s most-streamed artist of the year.
Even with this breakneck pace of musical releases, Ocasio found time to train up and get involved in the WWE. Ocasio won the WWE 24.7 Championship in 2021, and currently holds the title there. His appearances on the Royal Rumble and WWE Raw undoubtedly contributed to his personal wealth.
Later this year, Ocasio is expected to make an appearance on Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico, and on a new dramedy film called American Sole. These may boost his wealth as well, but fans will have to tune in and see. For now, Ocasio makes his SNL debut on Feb. 20, 2021 at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
