Global recording sensation Bad Bunny might be taking a pause on releasing new music (though the overachiever recently released a surprise collaboration with iconic bachata group Aventura titled Volví just last night, one of the first collaborated tracks since the last year’s El Último Tour Del Mundo), he’s not really relaxing. For the past year, he’s churned out projects that speak to his love for wrestling, acting, and fashion. His latest partnership rounds up his many diverse interests, including advocacy work, nurturing young talent, his home of Puerto Rico, sneakers, and also — espéralo — Cheetos.
The snack brand, along with Adidas, tapped Bad Bunny for a contest in which ten students in the U.S. and Puerto Rico will get a chance to win $50,000 to use toward their education. As part of the joint-created Deja tu Huella Estudiante Fund, students will submit how they’ve “made their mark,” and Bad Bunny himself will pick the winners. “I’ve brought music and entertainment to people, and it is the mark I want to leave. But more than that, I want to be remembered as someone genuine who always did everything with love,” Bad Bunny told Refinery29 Somos through a phone call.
Bad Bunny is a veteran of youth-oriented organizing, specifically through his Good Bunny Foundation that exists to help the advancement of Puerto Rican youth through financially backing art programs and sports initiatives. “The goal is to motivate others. ,” says Bad Bunny. “It feels good to be able to give back to people who do so much for me. The Latinx community. The Puerto Rican community. It’s always an honor to be a part of positive things going on.”
True to form, the fashion collaboration that was created to market this fund, is as brash as Bad Bunny’s own style. “We played with the Cheetos theme and the colors. It was something more fun and pressure free, we weren’t trying to fit into a trend or create one. We did it for fun and for the people.” The extremely limited-edition Adidas leisurewear collection, that you can only access with Cheeto-dust-covered fingers (really, truly, check out the instructions here) includes an animal print “Chester-orange” tracksuit and two jerseys inspired by Bad Bunny’s personal style and Chester’s orange colorway. The clothes are available to purchase on August 6.
In response to marrying his activism and his sponsorship deals, Bad Bunny explains that it’s all genuine. “I don’t do anything because I have to.When I have to give back and support my community, I do. I am a human being, if someone needs help, I step in. I’m just a human helping those who need help when I recognize that they do.”
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