Bad Bunny says fans ‘convinced’ him that Album of the Year loss to Harry Styles was a ‘robbery’

Puerto Rican artist was nominated for his fourth solo album, ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’

Bad Bunny has reflected on his loss to Harry Styles at the 2023 Grammys for Album of the Year.

The former One Direction star surprised the awards show when his sophomore album, Harry’s House, beat out competition from Bad Bunny (real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio), Beyoncé, Adele, and Kendrick Lamar.

In a new interview with Vanity Fair , Martínez said he didn’t think he was being robbed of the award until he saw the reaction from fans online.

“Maybe they weren’t ready for a Spanish-language album to win the big prize,” he said of Recording Academy voters.

“I didn’t even feel like [Album of the Year] had been stolen from me until the media started saying [it] and I saw that everybody thought I deserved the prize and everybody thought it was a robbery… That’s when they kind of convinced me and I said, ‘Well, yes, it was a robbery then.’”

However, the “Me Porto Bonito” singer doesn’t hold it against Styles, whom he saw in concert in Los Angeles this year. Asked what he thought of the gig, Martínez replied, “Brutal”, meaning “killer” in Spanish.

The Puerto Rican artist added that Styles saved his ego by beating him to the award. “It wasn’t because I didn’t feel I was deserving or because I thought I couldn’t win. It was because I don’t really want to hear myself,” he said. “I know I was going to get emotional. It would have been powerful and hard, dealing with that pride.”

Harry Styles (left) and Bad Bunny at the 2023 Grammy Awards (Getty Images)

Accepting the Album of the Year award, Styles said that “there was no such thing as best” and that he had been inspired by all the other artists in the category.

“S***, well s***,” he began.

“I’ve been so, so inspired by every artist in this category with me, and a lot of different times in my life I’ve listened to everyone in this category when I’m alone.