Bad Bunny. (Photo by Glenn Francis/www.PacificProDigital.com)
Since the news broke months ago that Benito Antonio (Bad Bunny) Martinez Ocasio would be in charge of the mid-game entertainment and that the show would take place in Spanish, a controversy arose that has been in the headlines for months, given the atmosphere that prevails around immigration and the relationship with the nations of the continent.
And then Benito arrives and puts on a show that is the very contradiction of exclusionary prejudices. Thirteen minutes truly full of an abundance of content and meaning that grows every time one returns in search of details. Both in its production values and in the number of symbols and images, the show was splendid, a synthesis of history and customs, mounted with the sounds and the rhythms of this land.
I usually think that the Boricua Archipelago is for the world but a drop of water in the ocean and for the owners, a hair on the back of a camel. From a geographical smallness and minimal political relevance we gained global visibility with the Bankruptcy of 2016. But this is nothing that comes close to Benito in the Super Bowl and his tribe to Puerto Ricanity. The 13 minutes reverberated around the world (record of 135 million audiences) and put Puerto Rico at the center, with our language and customs. And a music that makes the world dance.
The first impression was the immensity of the production. Filling a football field with a culture in 15 minutes is an incredible feat of planning and assembly, a challenging task for an immense amount of people on and off the scene. Coordinating a company of that nature is quite a feat, given the fluidity with which the show moved. The boy’s talent is not limited to his lyrics and performance on stage, Benito has achieved the power of convocation to produce a show of this category, which ran flawlessly on his shoulders. Without giving up the simplicity of the countryside that distinguishes it.
The sequence begins with a forceful statement: How good it is to be Latino! The following is the evidence because it puts on the screen the exuberance of what we are. A celebration that moves between life and history, with a series of images of our culture. The cane field, the house, the street, the neighborhood, the wedding with Lady Gaga, the four with Ricky Martin. A variation of rhythms ranging from the bolero to the regreton, without ignoring the sonorous salsa and emotional ballad. With a carnival closure of solidarity between the nations in which Latin celebrities such as Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba, Karol G, Cardi B and Young Miko who danced as a unified ensemble.
Jessica Alba one of the performers featured in the Bad Bunny Super Bowl half-time show.
Bad Bunny comes from when Benito was a child, who used to wear a rabbit costume for Halloween. At a party, his grandmother called him “bad bunny” for naughty. The mischief has been the focus of his identity since its beginnings, when he bursts into the musical world with an indisputable vulgarity and a nice carelessness that seduced the world. In addition to being a fruitful poet, Benito has a powerful gift for people, an irreverent sense of humor, an eye for talent and a marketing scheme that has been the subject of university courses. His evolution as an artist reflects a maturation, appreciable in the way in which his mischief has been modulated, calibrating how far to go in the game of rude provocation. A figure who has grown on his merits to reach the top of entertainment. In the Super Bowl, Benito climbed to the summit and formed a bembé group, carrying a message of diversity and inclusion. It is not new that love can be more than hate and it is unfortunate that today it is so resonate. Bad Bunny did it to the rhythm of regret and perreo. The audience broke the record of all time. The reactions have not been long in coming, from the POTUS to legislators, artists and commentators. Everyone has put their two cents and praise comes from everywhere.
One thing is clear: Benito is a phenomenon and his presentation at the Super Bowl is a memorable event. As Boricua I feel an immense pride and satisfaction that one of ours rises in his stature, that he makes his patriotic love, claim of sovereignty and humanity evident. Bad Bunny is a Good Bunny. Hey, hey! Thank you Benito.
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Copyright 2026 by José M. Umpierre. Photo of Bad Bunny by Glenn Francis and posted on Latinopia per Creative Commons attribution: © Glenn Francis, www.PacificProDigital.com Photo of Jessica Alba is in the public domain.
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