Puerto Rican superstar captivates 125 million viewers with a performance that centered island identity and defied language barriers.
Bad Bunny, born Benito Martínez Ocasio, became the first artist to headline a Super Bowl halftime show performed entirely in Spanish on Sunday. Taking the stage at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, the reggaeton icon delivered a 14-minute spectacle that paid homage to Puerto Rico’s history and culture, featuring guest appearances from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin.
The set design transported the global audience to the Caribbean, featuring replicas of the sugarcane fields that once drove the island’s economy, a traditional rural home, and the colonial fortress of El Morro. Musically, the performance traversed genres including salsa, bomba, and plena, anchoring the show in the specific sounds of Puerto Rico.
A Platform for Political Expression
While the show featured cameos from Hollywood stars like Pedro Pascal and Jessica Alba, Martínez Ocasio used the massive platform to highlight sociopolitical issues facing his homeland. During the song “El Apagón,” visuals criticized the island’s fragile electrical grid, a persistent point of contention for residents.
The performance follows a historic week for the artist, who recently won the Grammy for Album of the Year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos. Despite his critical acclaim, the decision to perform in Spanish drew criticism from former U.S. President Donald Trump, who posted on Truth Social that “nobody understands a word this guy says.”
Academics, however, argue that this linguistic defiance is key to his appeal. “His success stems from the intimate connection he maintains with the island,” note scholars Vanessa Díaz and Petra R. Rivera Rideau.
SOURCES: BBC Mundo, Truth Social, The New York Times Magazine.
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