Bad Bunny infused his Super Bowl halftime show with nuanced nods to Puerto Rico’s culture and history, making a powerful statement on one of the nation’s most-watched platforms.
The performance kicked off with a vibrant display of Latino heritage as Bad Bunny transformed Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara into a scene reminiscent of agricultural land.
He took to the stage amid a faux sugar cane field while performing his popular track “Tití Me Preguntó,” paying tribute to his roots and homeland.
As Dr. Allison Wiltz highlighted on X, “The history of sugar slavery is deeply embedded in the Southern states, the Caribbean, and South America. His performance was not only stunning but also intellectually engaging and skillfully delivered.”
The set design further featured images of power grids erupting, symbolizing the frequent and lengthy power outages that plague Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico’s electrical infrastructure is notorious for its vulnerability to blackouts, a theme Bad Bunny has explored in his music.
In 2022, he released a mini documentary titled El Apagón – or the ‘Power Outage’ in English – focused on the island’s ongoing electricity problems.
The outages tend to worsen after hurricanes, which are frequent in the Caribbean.
Hurricane Maria in 2017 knocked out the territory’s power grid for months; and 2022’s Hurricane Fiona disabled 100% of the grid for weeks.
Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny held up a football with the message ‘Together we are America’ during his Super Bowl halftime show
The Puerto Rican singer, real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, began his performance surrounded by prop sugar canes
Bad Bunny, who performs in Spanish, is the most-streamed artist in the world, according to Spotify.
He was born in Puerto Rico, which is a US territory. His Super Bowl LX performance gave a nod to his roots.
The Latino rapper waved the Puerto Rican flag as the halftime performance played out.
He appeared to be holding a flag with a lighter blue shade, a color often associated with Puerto Rico’s pro–independence movement.
Bad Bunny has alluded to the flag before in his song La Mudanza, where he sings that he ‘brings it everywhere I want now.’
The lyric points to Puerto Rico’s former gag law, which made it illegal to own the island’s flag from 1948 until 1957.
The artist has previously featured other pro–independence imagery into his music videos and has backed candidates who support Puerto Rico separating from the US.
A medley of performers came out at the end of the performance waving the flags of every North, South and Latin American country
Bad Bunny waved the Puerto Rican flag during his performance on Sunday. His track list included hits like Tití Me Preguntó and Yo Perreo Sola
At one point, he introduced himself to the crowd with his full name in Spanish – Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio.
Bad Bunny spoke entirely in his mother tongue as he told the crowd to ‘believe in yourself.’
At one point, the glaring words ‘The only thing more powerful than hate is love’ flashed across the video screen behind him.
‘God Bless America!’ the singer declared.
He then shouted out countries across North, South and Latin America as performers rushed onto the field carrying those nations’ flags.
He listed most of the nations in Spanish before switching to English toward the end of the sequence.
The final countries named were the United States and Canada, before he closed with a tribute to his home territory.
‘And my motherland, Puerto Rico,’ Bad Bunny said.
He then held a football to the camera with the words, ‘Together we are America.’
Bad Bunny did not directly mention ICE during his performance after denouncing the federal agency during the Grammys
Bad Bunny appeared to be waving a lighter blue version of the Puerto Rican flag, which has been associated with pro-independence movements
The Puerto Rican singer’s halftime performance on Sunday included Ricky Martin, who is also Puerto Rican.
Martin was tapped to perform the hit track Lo que le pasó a Hawaii, which translates to ‘What happened to Hawaii’ in English.
In that track, Bad Bunny sings: ‘I don’t want them to do to you what they did to Hawaii.’
The lyrics have been interpreted as speaking out against America’s rule of Hawaii, as well as offering thoughts on supposed gentrification in Puerto Rico and the island’s possible statehood.
However, Bad Bunny avoided mentioning Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directly during his set.
This came after he forcefully spoke out against the federal agency when he won three Grammys on February 1.
‘Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say: ICE Out,’ the Puerto Rican star said while receiving his first award.
Ricky Martin was featured in Bad Bunny’s performance during the song Lo que le pasó a Hawaii, whose lyrics speak out against supposed gentrification in Puerto Rico
During the halftime show, Bad Bunny offered one of his Grammy Awards to a young boy watching television.
Some fans erroneously believed the little kid was Liam Conejo Ramos, the five–year–old detained in Minnesota by ICE agents last month and later released.
Bad Bunny’s performance was slammed by President Donald Trump, who called it ‘absolutely terrible’ and ‘one of the worst, EVER!’
‘It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence,’ Trump said on Truth Social.
He added: ‘Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World.’
Millions of NFL fans instead chose to watch Turning Point USA’s ‘All–American’ Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday night.
The show started with the host claiming ‘this one’s for you Charlie’, honoring Turning Point USA’s late founder Charlie Kirk, who was murdered in September.
Kid Rock headlined the alternative MAGA performance, with Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett also tapped for the spectacle.
More than five million viewers were watching the TPUSA show at its highest point.
