Bad Bunny Faces $16 Million Lawsuit Over Unauthorized Voice Samples in Hit Songs

Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny is at the center of a $16 million lawsuit for using voice notes without permission on two popular tracks.

When Your Voice Becomes a Hit Without Your Consent

Imagine chilling with your college friend, recording a casual voice note, and then—bam!—your voice ends up in songs by one of the biggest names in Latin music, without your say-so or a dime in your pocket. That’s exactly what Tainaly Serrano Rivera claims happened to her with Bad Bunny’s music.

Tainaly has filed a lawsuit against Bad Bunny, aka Benito Martínez Ocasio, and his producer La Paciencia (Roberto Rosado), as well as the Rimas Entertainment label, seeking $16 million (about £11.9 million) in damages. The case centers on two tracks, “Solo de Mi” from Bad Bunny’s 2018 debut album X 100pre and “EoO” from his 2025 album Debí Tirar Más Fotos.

That Voice You Hear? It’s Her Words, She Says.

On both songs, you can hear a distinctive phrase:

“Mira, puñeta, no me quiten el perreo”
(“Listen, damn it, don’t take away my vibe”)

This seemingly casual snippet, Rivera asserts, is her voice. She recorded this audio back in 2018 for La Paciencia, who was not only Bad Bunny’s producer but also her college friend. According to Rivera’s legal team, she was never told that this recording would be used commercially or that her identity would be exploited.

“No compensation of any kind was discussed. No contract or agreement was signed, nor was any license or authorization granted.”

The lawsuit also claims Bad Bunny and his team improperly used this vocal sample during his San Juan residency shows last year, further intensifying the dispute.

Visualizing the Sound: Bad Bunny’s "Solo de Mí"

Here’s the official video for Solo de Mí, where you can catch the infamous voice note in context:

Legal Battles in the World of Music Sampling

This isn’t Bad Bunny’s first brush with legal drama over voice samples. His previous lawsuit in 2023 involved another woman, Carliz De La Cruz Hernández, who accused him of using her voice without permission on two tracks. That case moved from federal court back to state court and remains unresolved.

Representing Rivera this time are attorneys Jose Marxuach Fagot and Joanna Bocanegra Ocasio—the same team involved in the prior lawsuit—signaling a continued legal challenge around the use of personal voice recordings in Bad Bunny’s work.

The Musical Impact of Debí Tirar Más Fotos

Despite the ongoing litigation, Bad Bunny’s 2025 album Debí Tirar Más Fotos has been a critical success. It landed at Number Five on the Best Albums of 2025 list by respected critics and was hailed as a masterpiece of Latin genres.

The album masterfully blends salsa, bomba, plena, reggaeton, and more, with emotionally charged storytelling that reflects heartbreak, diaspora, and political observations.

Here’s the visualizer for EoO, where you can hear the disputed voice sample again:

The record’s emotional range is wide, featuring tracks like Baile Inolvidable (which itself ranked Number 10 on the year’s Best Songs list), celebrated for being one of Bad Bunny’s most stunning torch songs.

Why Does This Matter?

At its core, this lawsuit shines a light on the complex, sometimes murky waters of sampling and rights in music production. Voice notes and candid recordings are often used creatively, but who owns that audio? How much should artists compensate the people behind those sounds? The $16 million suit against Bad Bunny may set important precedents for artists and producers in the Latin music scene and beyond.

FAQ

• What songs are involved in the lawsuit against Bad Bunny?
  The songs Solo de Mi from X 100pre (2018) and EoO from Debí Tirar Más Fotos (2025) are the two tracks in question.
• Who is Tainaly Serrano Rivera?
  She is the woman who alleges that her voice was sampled without permission in Bad Bunny’s songs.
• What phrase does Rivera claim is her voice in the songs?
  The phrase is “Mira, puñeta, no me quiten el perreo” (“Listen, damn it, don’t take away my vibe”).
• What damages is Rivera seeking?
  Rivera is seeking $16 million in damages for unauthorized use of her voice.
• Has Bad Bunny faced similar lawsuits before?
  Yes, in 2023, a similar case was brought by Bad Bunny’s ex-girlfriend claiming unauthorized use of her voice.

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