ET caught up with the 24-year-old rapper during his Latin GRAMMY rehearsals in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Bad Bunny is on top of the world!
The 24-year-old Puerto Rican rapper, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, has been collaborating with the hottest acts in music, including Cardi B, Drake, Will Smith and Marc Anthony -- as well as Jennifer Lopez.
Ahead of the 2018 Latin GRAMMYs, ET caught up with Bad Bunny during his rehearsals at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, where he opened up about his Latin GRAMMY nomination, his upcoming performance of "Está Rico," and working with the one and only J.Lo.
"To be honest, I barely said a word to her because I was so nervous. I felt the pressure," Bad Bunny confessed, with a laugh about collaborating on their new single, "Te Guste." "It was a great experience working with her. She's a total professional, a diva, a mega-star, not just in music but in the entertainment industry. You always learn from the greats, and J.Lo is one."
Bad Bunny, who is currently nominated in the Best Urban category for his song "Sensualidad," is feeling "happy," "grateful" and "thankful." "I always say that these types of recognitions make me want to work harder and to continue to do what I am doing," he declared.
As he prepared to open the show with Smith and Anthony, Bad Bunny reflected on working with the two music legends.
"It's such an incredible feeling that I haven't been able to [take it all in]," he expressed. "I say, when I get to go on vacation during Christmas I'm going to sit down and watch the video and process everything because while you're working you don’t take in everything that is going on. But the opportunity to work with a legend like Will Smith and Marc Anthony, who is one of my inspirations since I was a kid, for me it's great. It is a feeling that any young person, anyone, would feel incredible. I will enjoy and take it all in come December."
Bad Bunny also shared that at first, he was a bit nervous to work with Anthony, but once he got to know him, the salsa singer "gave me confidence."
"He's a super nice man, humble, he gave me advice, we talked about music and he gave me that confidence and when we began working it was so much fun," he dished.
As for working with Cardi B on "I Like It," he said that, like himself, "she stays real and she stays humble, in her essence."
"I identity with her a lot because I'm sure that many people didn't believe in her at first and she faced discrimination because of how she acts, and her previous job, for being Latina, etc.," the rapper explained. "But she has demonstrated that barriers don't exist in music, no prejudices, there are no limits. I'm really proud of her, knowing that she's Latina, Dominican."
The 2018 Latin GRAMMYs air Thursday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. ET on Univision.
Reporting by Elisa Osegueda.
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