How a viral song commodifies Puerto Rico’s identity: systemic erasure in global cultural extraction
Original framing: “What do Puerto Ricans think of the viral song about their homeland?” — BBC News - World
Puerto Rico’s colonial history under Spain and the U.S. has conditioned its cultural production to be consumed by external audiences, from 19th-century travelogues to modern-day viral content. The island’s status as a U.S. territory enables the unchecked extraction of its cultural and economic resources, a pattern dating back to the 1898 invasion. This history reveals how viral phenomena are not isolated incidents but part of a long continuum of cultural imperialism.
The viral song about Puerto Rico exemplifies how global media ecosystems exploit cultural identity while obscuring colonial histories and structural inequities.
Mainstream coverage frames it as a harmless celebration, but the phenomenon is part of a long continuum of cultural extraction that dates back to Puerto Rico’s colonial subjugation under Spain and the U.S. The Taíno people, Puerto Rico’s original inhabitants, have been erased from this narrative, their knowledge systems and land stewardship traditions ignored in favor of commodifiable tropes. Meanwhile, platforms like TikTok and Spotify profit from the algorithmic amplification of such content, while Puerto Rican creators and communities see little benefit. The solution lies in structural changes: decolonizing algorithms, empowering local IP cooperatives, and centering marginalized voices in both education and policy. Without these interventions, viral phenomena will continue to deepen colonial patterns of extraction, leaving Puerto Rico—and other marginalized cultures—trapped in cycles of cultural commodification and economic dependency.