As I’ve grown older, each Super Bowl has somehow been more impressive than the last. I don’t ever keep up with football, but best believe that when the Super Bowl comes around, I will be tuning in to the halftime show. Last year, Kendrick Lamar graced the public consciousness with political imagery, impressive duets with SZA, and scathing slander towards 2024’s punching bag, Drake.
This year’s halftime show extraordinaire was none other than Puerto Rican’s very own Bad Bunny. Even before the halftime show aired, the controversy surrounding (gasp!) a Puerto Rican artist performing at one of the most televised events in the country was reaching predictable amounts of ridiculousness. Of course, during this administration and this polarizing time in our country’s history, you would see people being unnecessarily xenophobic and spewing the same talking points about “spreading an agenda” by this being the first-ever all-Spanish halftime show.
Who knew that a Latine artist could get Americans so mad that we had to create an “All-American Superbowl” to appease those who were offended?
Even some football players had their qualms about Bad Bunny performing, not because they don’t like his music, but because they think someone American should be performing, and the NFL is “trying too hard with this international stuff.” Mini history lesson since some people desperately need it: Since 1917, under the Jones-Shafroth Act signed by President Woodrow Wilson, Puerto Ricans have been considered U.S. citizens. Not to mention we’ve had non-American performers at the Super Bowl before: The Weeknd, Shakira, and Coldplay, just to name a FEW!
The more the firestorm frenzy went on, the more excited I was for Bad Bunny’s performance. If his monumental Album of the Year Grammy win and speech were anything to go by, I knew he’d deliver a performance that would wow the culture.
And he did … ¡con reggaeton y dembow!
To put it bluntly, this halftime show was an unabashed display of Hispanic pride, love, and community. Most importantly, Bad Bunny delivered a 13-minute medley/love letter to Puerto Rico through set design, dance styles, and cultural references that could probably bring your abuelita to tears.
I was endlessly impressed with the references to Puerto Rican culture found in the set design, from the sugarcane fields, plantain trees, and straw hats (known as pava) to the telephone poles referring to Puerto Rico’s electricity outages. This matched perfectly with the medley of his popular songs, mainly from “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS,” his Grammy award-winning magnum opus that paid homage to his beloved homeland.
The setlist included provocative, hip-shaking numbers like “VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR” and “EoO” with all the fire and flair to set the entire stadium ablaze. From there, we had a brief detour into “MONACO,” before queer icon Lady Gaga surprised the stadium with a salsa rendition of her smash hit “Die With A Smile.” Speaking of queer artists, Ricky Martin! I adored his quick rendition of “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” and honestly wished he were in more of the show; still, I’m just happy that Bad Bunny included such an important Latin queer artist in the first place.
I also want to give a tremendous shoutout to the live instrumentation; bringing in actual salsa musicians and dancers enhanced the danciness for tracks like “BAILE INoLVIDABLE” and “NUEVAYoL” The entirety of “BAILE INoLVIDABLE” felt like an authentic Hispanic reunion (he even referenced the common experience of having that one little cousin/relative that falls asleep on a row of chairs)!
And what better way to round out such a momentous parade of multicultural love than with shoutouts to all the countries in the Americas? All while a Levi’s Stadium billboard in the background displayed “The Only Thing More Powerful Than Hate is Love!” When I tell you I was ridiculously giddy when he said “Colombia,” I mean it with my whole chest. Nothing, however, could compare to the warmth I felt when he rounded out the show with the effervescent “DtMF” while rejoicing with a vibrant display of Latin American flags. I didn’t think I could feel so instantly gleeful seeing loud-and-proud Hispanic representation on the big screen.
A halftime show like this is more than just a gargantuan display of heritage and Latinidad; it is a political statement. It is a testament that, despite the ongoing vitriol and volatility towards immigrants and Latines, we aren’t monolithic, and we certainly aren’t going anywhere. We are Americans and, as printed on the football Bad Bunny was holding at the very end of the show, together, we are America. As a Latina, I found so many moments during this performance that gave me insurmountable hope and pride despite the unshakable anxiety for what our community is going through currently.
No matter what the Laura Loomers or Megyn Kellys of the world want to say, Bad Bunny’s halftime show was unmistakably American. If a performance based on the ideals of love (with a literal wedding taking place in the middle of it!) and community isn’t quintessentially American, then I truly don’t know what is.
