Written by Annie Barber
Two weeks ago, Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny delivered one of the most watched Super Bowl half-time shows ever. The set, which celebrated Latin culture, was sang mostly in Spanish for the first time, featured surprise appearances, a diverse group of dancers, a real life wedding, a mini-Benito, and, most importantly of all, a very strong political message. The superstar’s half-time slot has gained him a 210% increase in global streams and a slew of chart-topping spots, but the thing that makes it most memorable is its enduring message of love and inclusivity.
Lady Gaga was the first special guest, treating the audience to a salsa rendition of ‘Die With a Smile’. Bad Bunny has been a longtime fan of Lady Gaga, having learned about drag from his cousin who performed to many of her songs. Her music and his cousin both inspired his music video for ‘Yo Perreo Sola’, an empowering anthem that was played during the set and is about how women should be allowed to dance alone without fear of harassment. The video sees Bad Bunny dressing in drag, which further extends the message of the song to include trans people who are disproportionately subjected to sexual violence. Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin also joined the show to sing a cover of Bad Bunny’s ‘LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii’. Alongside these captivating performances, icons like Pedro Pascal, Cardi B, Karol G, and Jessica Alba lined La Casita that formed a central part of the set.
Over 700 performers from across the Americas were part of the show and have made waves across social media. Two male dancers, Dan Santiago and Igor Faria, have gone viral for dancing on each other during the performance. Commentators have hailed it as yet another example of Bad Bunny’s commitment to inclusivity and long-standing allyship to the LGBTQ+ community. The show was choreographed by Emmy-nominated Black choreographer Charm La’Donna, who has now worked on three half-time shows so far, with the other two being The Weeknd’s 2021 show and Kendrick Lamar’s slot last year. La’Donna recruited Latina choreographers Karina Ortiz (who has worked with Bad Bunny on multiple occasions) and Melany Mercedes to bring more authenticity to it.
Two other highlights include an actual marriage to which Bad Bunny served as the witness and a mini-Benito. The couple who got married during the show had reportedly invited him to their wedding and, instead, he asked them to be part of his show. Egyptian-Argentinian child actor Lincoln Fox Ramadan played a younger version of Bad Bunny who watches him winning the highly coveted Grammy Award for Album of the Year, before he is handed the award by Bad Bunny himself. Rumours quickly swept social media that the 5-year-old was Liam Conejo Ramos, the child who was detained by ICE in Minnesota in January. After the show, Fox Ramadan posted to social media, sending love to Conejo Ramos by saying “We all deserve peace and love in America, a country built by and home to so many hard-working immigrants.”
During the performance ‘El Apagón’ (The Blackout), a song released in 2022 that references Puerto Rico’s failing power grid, dancers were seen dangling from power poles. This part of the show drew attention to a serious issue and one which the Trump administration has worsened by denying $815 million of $1 billion in funds that were supposed to go towards protecting the system from storms and outages.
The final part of the show began with Bad Bunny declaring “God bless, America” before listing all of the countries within the continents of North and South America. As he walked through the grass (which was, funnily enough, actually made up of human performers in costume), a message is displayed on the screen behind him which reads ‘The only thing more powerful than hate is love’. He then held up a football at the end of the segment bearing the words: ‘Together, We Are America’ before jumping into his iconic track ‘DtMF’ which served as the finale.
Unsurprisingly, the show has drawn sharp criticism from MAGA and its associates, with Donald Trump himself calling it “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!” and the FCC launching an investigation into it following a Republican lawmaker’s complaints of indecency. But there’s not much point in dwelling on the negatives. Bad Bunny’s half-time show was a true victory and sent a clear message: we are Americans and we are hear to stay. America was built on the work of immigrants, even though those in power are now demonising and stripping them of their humanity. Additionally, as Bad Bunny himself remarked in the press conference before the show, “English is not my first language. But it’s ok, it’s not America’s first language, either.” Love is more powerful than hate and Bad Bunny has shown that it can indeed triumph over all else.
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