<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Crowds wore maga flowers and \u201cpavas\u201d \u2014 straw hats traditionally worn by j\u00edbaros, Puerto Rican rural farmers. They drank Medalla beer and danced salsa.<\/p>\n
Over the course of a 31-date residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Bad Bunny worked a miracle, inspiring patriotism in the hearts of a proud Boricua people, and in those traveling to Puerto Rico for the first time. He performed on two stages, one showcasing the island’s natural beauty with its flamboyan and plantain trees, and another, a casita (\u201clittle house\u201d), for the pari de marquesina, a house party.<\/p>\n
If all the world’s a stage \u2014 might as well make it home.<\/p>\n
In February, it can be expected that the artist born Benito Antonio Mart\u00ednez Ocasio will bring the same spirit to the 2026 Super Bowl.<\/a> And he’ll do so in Spanish \u2014 a landmark moment for Latino culture.<\/p>\n From Puerto Rico to the Super Bowl<\/p>\n Bad Bunny’s \u201cNo Me Quiero Ir De Aqu\u00ed\u201d residency (in English, \u201cI Don\u2019t Want to Leave Here\u201d) bypassed a traditional U.S. tour, bringing approximately half a million people to the island during the slow summer tourism season<\/a> and generating an estimated<\/a> $733 million for Puerto Rico. Across three hours, attendees were guided through a musical history \u2014 reggaet\u00f3n hits from Bad Bunny’s singular discography as well as the folkloric styles of his latest album, \u201cDeb\u00ed Tirar M\u00e1s Fotos.\u201d<\/a> (\u201cI Should Have Taken More Photos.”)<\/p>\n There was a political history, too: like in the affecting song \u201cLo Que Pas\u00f3 a Hawaii,\u201d (\u201cWhat Happened to Hawaii\u201d), a rallying cry for Puerto Rico’s autonomy. Or 2022’s \u201cEl Apag\u00f3n\u201d (\u201cThe Blackout\u201d), in reference to Hurricane Maria,<\/a> its aftermath and the continued anger and frustration over persistent, chronic power outages<\/a>.<\/p>\n Of course, a Super Bowl halftime show traditionally runs 12 to 15 minutes. It’s not a lot of time to bring Puerto Rico, or its complicated colonial history, to the NFL’s mainstream \u2014 but it is enough for a taste.<\/p>\n It’s worth mentioning Benito has done so before: making a surprise appearance at the Super Bowl in 2020, during Shakira<\/a> and Jennifer Lopez’s<\/a> performance. He sang in Spanish alongside two artists whose bilingual hits helped usher in a crossover era for Latin music in the \u201800s. He\u2019s a direct inheritor of their successes, and he’s been able to kick the door down further \u2014 helping to establish an industry where Latino superstars need not record their music in English to have a career.<\/p>\n Bad Bunny is simultaneously an interesting and an obvious choice for the NFL: One of the most popular artists on the planet who understands that going global means embracing the local, performing during the most-watched television program of the year.<\/p>\n A pick with political considerations<\/p>\n In a recent interview with i-D Magazine, Bad Bunny mentioned that one of the reasons his residency bypassed the continental U.S. were concerns around the mass deportations of Latinos.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was the issue of \u2014 like, (expletive) ICE could be outside (my concert). And it\u2019s something that we were talking about and very concerned about,\u201d he told the publication, referencing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ( Hundreds of people<\/a> have been detained in Puerto Rico since large-scale arrests began in late January<\/a>, surprising many in the U.S. territory that has long welcomed migrants.) It resonated with Latinos and the Spanish speaking community,<\/a> who have grown increasingly weary<\/a> amid growing anti-immigrant sentiment and raids, as President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s immigration<\/a> policies and executive actions have vastly expanded who is eligible for deportation.<\/a><\/p>\n Bad Bunny has long been critical of Trump and backed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. \u201cI will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader,\u201d he said in a video<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n For some Trump supporters, Bad Bunny’s booking at the 2026 Super Bowl is a divisive political pick. Conservative commentator Benny Johnson described Bad Bunny as an \u201canti-ICE activist” on Instagram.<\/p>\n Ryan Fournier, chair of Students for Trump, said that \u201cwhoever picks these people should be fired.\u201d<\/p>\n For others, Bad Bunny’s booking is cause for celebration. \u201cGo get em Bad Bunny!” wrote Bruno Mars<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n Roc Nation founder Jay-Z,<\/a> who oversees the Super Bowl booking, said in a statement that what Bad Bunny has \u201cdone and continues to do for Puerto Rico is truly inspiring. We are honored to have him on the world\u2019s biggest stage.\u201d<\/p>\n At the very least, Bad Bunny, who performs in Spanish and will do so at the Super Bowl, is set to make history, further proving that connecting with a U.S. and international audience does not require singing in English.<\/p>\n The question is \u2014 what messages will Bad Bunny deliver in a culture where identity is politicized? And what does it mean that his performance arrives in the midst of one of the largest immigration crackdowns in U.S. history, where Latinos are especially vulnerable?<\/a><\/p>\n T he Super Bowl halftime show after Kendrick Lamar<\/p>\n In February, Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl halftime performance<\/a> made art of his short set, offering a meta commentary on race and America. \u201cThe revolution \u2019bout to be televised,\u201d he announced early in the performance.<\/p>\n It featured actor Samuel L. Jackson<\/a> as Uncle Sam, whose character critiqued the rapper and his dancers dressed in red, white and blue for being \u201ctoo loud, too reckless, too ghetto,\u201d reminding them to \u201cplay the game.\u201d There was the sense that Lamar was breaking the fourth wall, reminding viewers of the NFL’s political associations following Colin Kaepernick\u2019s kneeling protests<\/a> and the Black Lives Matter movement.<\/p>\n That Lamar was able to weave American themes into his history-making performance as the first solo hip-hop artist to ever headline the coveted slot will no doubt benefit Bad Bunny. At the very least, he may learn from the rapper’s layered and conceptual narratives, that messages on the NFL stage do not need to be explicit to be effective.<\/p>\n A star-studded affair<\/p>\n At every date of his residency, Bad Bunny invited celebrities \u2014 among them LeBron James, Pen\u00e9lope Cruz and Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 \u2014 to join in his party. He also performed with many musicians, including Puerto Rico heavyweights Jowell y Randy, Arc\u00e1ngel and notably Marc Anthony.<\/a> The pair duetted \u201cPreciosa” \u2014 a song Anthony had not sung in public in 20 years.<\/p>\n