Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show: A Memorable Moment in Music History
Bad Bunny Makes History at the Grammys and the Super Bowl
Bad Bunny has once again made headlines, securing the Grammy Award for Album of the Year last Sunday for his 2025 release, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.” This marks a historic moment as it is the first fully Spanish-language album to win the prestigious title. Adding to his impressive achievements, Bad Bunny is set to headline the Super Bowl halftime show on February 8.
The artist’s work extends beyond entertainment; it also educates. His latest album not only celebrates Puerto Rico and its culture but also highlights the significant challenges facing the territory, such as massive migration, displacement, and a crumbling infrastructure. In an era when education is under scrutiny, particularly in the United States and Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny is leveraging his celebrity to provide a crucial history lesson.
In December 2024, Bad Bunny’s team commissioned a detailed 17-page history of Puerto Rico to accompany the visualizers for “DTMF,” which have collectively garnered over 775 million views. I later developed 40 slides filled with historical and cultural insights, showcased during his 31-show residency in San Juan. These slides covered topics ranging from women’s suffrage to the origins of Puerto Rico’s first punk band, La Experiencia de Toñito Cabanillas.
The announcement of Bad Bunny as the NFL’s Super Bowl halftime act drew backlash from conservatives, including comments from several Fox News hosts and even President Trump, who remarked, “I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they’re doing it … [It’s] crazy.”
As many communities of color celebrated the decision on social media, critics posed two primary questions: Why was a Spanish-speaking artist selected for this prominent stage, and why not a more traditionally patriotic Anglo-American performer? While these inquiries reveal underlying xenophobic sentiments, they also underscore a lack of understanding about Puerto Rico’s complex relationship with the United States.
Puerto Rico has a rich history of colonization, first by Spain from 1493 until 1898, when the United States took control following the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans gained U.S. citizenship through the Jones Act in 1917 and established a Commonwealth status in 1952. However, these historical facts mask the reality that Puerto Ricans are classified as second-class citizens, unable to vote for the U.S. president and not fully protected by the Bill of Rights. According to early 20th-century Supreme Court rulings, Puerto Rico is part of the United States but remains largely excluded from it.
In creating the narratives for “DTMF,” Bad Bunny recognized the lack of awareness surrounding Puerto Rican history, even among Puerto Ricans themselves. His goal was to make this information accessible to those without higher education, tailoring the content to resonate with people from working-class neighborhoods in Puerto Rico, where I grew up.
The success of “DTMF” has sparked global conversations, with journalists expressing surprise at how little they knew about Puerto Rico’s history and its ties to the U.S. This highlights ongoing debates about language and identity, shaped by a lack of information.
Despite being a U.S. citizen, Bad Bunny faces opposition from conservatives organizing an alternative “All-American Halftime Show,” reflecting how concepts of “Americanness” are often tied to language and race.
Puerto Rico’s history intersects with the narratives of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx communities. Bad Bunny’s performance is poised to illuminate the richness and complexity of Puerto Rican history, even as it may challenge viewers’ comfort levels. Performing entirely in Spanish during a time when Latinx individuals face scrutiny for their language choices is particularly poignant.
While artists alone cannot dismantle racism and xenophobia, their influence is significant. Bad Bunny’s far-reaching impact, as evidenced by recent successes such as his album topping charts in China, positions him to drive cultural change. The recent Grammy ceremony illustrated that he is not alone; other artists are also using their platforms to address anti-immigrant issues.
As conservatives rally around a counter Super Bowl halftime performance featuring Kid Rock, Bad Bunny offers a far more enriching historical perspective, infused with the rhythms of sazón, batería, and reggaetón.
Jorell Meléndez-Badillo is an associate professor of Latin American and Caribbean History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of “Puerto Rico: A National History.”
