Is Bad Bunny Really That Big of a Gaffe for Maida Gorcevic?

2026-03-18 - 07:53

Good morning! I noticed on Twitter a storm in a teacup over the fact that Maida Gorcevic used a Bad Bunny song in a video of her meeting with Spanish colleagues—a song that mentions vices, debauchery, and immorality. The choice of song was odd even to my taste, but not for these provincial and ridiculous reasons. Don’t forget to join our Viber community. Is Bad Bunny really that big of a gaffe for Maida Gorcevic? A friend called me and said, “Did you see this thing about Maida Gorcevic?” I had, but I hadn’t paid much attention until he called. His stance was defensive. He fully supports that political option, and we often argue about politics, even though he’s not part of the political elite—just a voter and sympathiser, probably unknown to anyone in PES. Then I went and read the comments and realised that my friend, despite his uncritical attitude toward PES, was largely right. Not completely, but to a great extent. Here’s why, in my humble opinion. When I saw the video, I didn’t like the song choice because, although it’s in Spanish, it doesn’t remind me of Spain. The rhythm is Latin American—very specifically Latin American. It wouldn’t fit a visit to Brazil or Argentina either, let alone Spain, which is quite different. You might think these are subtle distinctions, but imagine a situation I’ve witnessed: foreign tourists making videos of Montenegrin landscapes with Balkan brass band music in the background. I have nothing against Balkan brass music when it’s tied to something authentic, but when you put it over Montenegrin imagery, it can trigger the same reaction among Montenegrins as scraping a fork across metal. Our kitsch is of a different kind—more dramatic and jumpy. Still, none of that bothered me enough to comment or make fun of it, because that would have been a snobbish reaction. Then I saw a flood of comments with a provincial, small-minded tone: “How can she play this when the song talks about drugs?” Truly shocking and scandalous. Come on, give me a break. So many popular melodies used in all sorts of contexts have highly problematic or mismatched lyrics for formal occasions. Rafaella Carrà’s “A far l’amore comincia tu,” which we used on public TV during Italian league broadcasts, is one example. Or a song by Balasevic about a “rooster.” Or the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” which literally calls for watering the fields with the impure blood of enemies. Or my personal favourite, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” often used at official ceremonies and even funerals, despite explicitly referring to a sexual act. This is not a defence of Maida Gorcevic, her politics, or her work. This is a critique of the provincial argument that a Bad Bunny song is unsuitable for official use because it “promotes drugs, debauchery, and immorality.” If there is a truly conservative, small-minded criticism from the very bottom of the barrel, it is this one. There is no value in being scandalised by lyrics without understanding context and symbolism. In public communication, music is not chosen as a moral manifesto, but as a signal of rhythm, energy, and recognizability. If we want to criticise the song choice, let’s do so for possible superficiality, not for imagined moral transgressions. Otherwise, we are not defending any values—we are only confirming our own narrow-minded, small-town mentality. That’s all for today. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day. Kind regards, Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM analyst and columnist (Columnists’ opinions and views do not necessarily reflect the views of the CdM editorial staff)