While some may have tuned in to the Super Bowl on Sunday night to watch the Seattle Seahawks defeat the New England Patriots, others were there for halftime headliner Bad Bunny.
This year, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, known as Bad Bunny, became the first fully Spanish-language artist to headline the halftime show. This was Bad Bunny’s second Super Bowl performance — he was a guest during the Super Bowl LIV halftime show alongside Shakira and Jennifer Lopez.
When the National Football League announced that Bad Bunny, who recently won album of the year at the Grammy Awards for “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS,” would be performing at Super Bowl LX, the decision was met with controversy.
Even though Bad Bunny — chosen by Jay-Z and the NFL — is the most-streamed artist on Spotify, some conservatives have taken issue with the pick of the Puerto Rican artist due to his outspoken criticism of President Trump’s anti-immigration policies and the recent actions taken by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
With the nation’s eyes on him, Bad Bunny put on a show that was equal parts entertaining and political.
Featuring stars from Cardi B to Pedro Pascal, Bad Bunny’s performance was utterly electric. One of the show’s most shocking moments was Lady Gaga’s seemingly random appearance and performance of “Die With a Smile.”
The performance’s highlight, though, was its set. From barber salons to Piragua carts to La Marqueta, the show transported viewers to Puerto Rico from Levi’s Stadium in California.
With Bad Bunny hoisting the Puerto Rican flag over his shoulder and dancers donning pavas, hats closely associated with Puerto Rico, the performance was as much a political statement as it was a dance party. In the same breath that Bad Bunny declares, “God bless America” he also recites the names of Latin American countries.
The Puerto Rican superstar carried a football for much of his halftime performance, and at the end of the show revealed a message scribed on the ball: “Together, We Are America.” Before he spiked the ball, he proclaimed “seguimos aquí” — “We’re still here.”
Due to the time limitations of the halftime show, the performance had a noteworthy albeit disappointingly abrupt ending. But every minute viewers did get was rich with political undertones and musical prowess.
Among the many guests, though, was Ricky Martin, another famous Puerto Rican artist who sang a portion of “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” a song off Bad Bunny’s recent album that compares the colonization of Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
The one drawback of the halftime show was just how little of Bad Bunny’s performance featured Bad Bunny actually performing his songs. Although he opened with “Tití Me Preguntó,” fans were hoping for longer versions of his other hits, like “DtMF.” Instead, they only heard a brief snippet of it before the football players returned to the screen for the second half of the game.
Despite the limited time, Bad Bunny did as much with his performance as he possibly could have. The show was the perfect display of the breadth of Bad Bunny’s discography — with both early career and recent hits, the show had something for everyone.
In bringing both reggaeton and Latin trap to one of the biggest stages in the nation, Bad Bunny delivered the performance of a lifetime, using the Super Bowl stage exactly as it should be used.
Talia LeVine is a section editor covering arts and culture. They study Political Science and Visual Art with a focus on photography. In their free time, they can be found drinking copious amounts of coffee.
