It goes without saying that Bad Bunny’s halftime performance was amazing, tear-jerking, and utterly beautiful. The brief 13 minutes where Bad Bunny took the stage were filled with Puerto Rico’s vibrant culture that is, unfortunately, so often overlooked. Now, you all should know that I am Mexican, but on February 8th, 2026, I was 100% Puerto Rican. We ALL were Puerto Rican. 

I couldn’t bring myself to write about the show without talking about the hate and backlash that came along with it, but I refuse to let that overshadow the performance as a whole. I just have one thing to say: if you do not have the capacity to enjoy music from a culture that is not yours, you truly have a low IQ. Music has ALWAYS transcended language and always will.
 
If I went into every minuscule detail Bad Bunny included in the show, this would truly be 10 pages long, so I’ll keep it brief. Maybe…

Starting strong, he opened in a sugarcane field singing “Titi Me Pregunto”, and jibaros (Puerto Rican farmers) are seen behind him harvesting the sugar. This was an extremely intentional choice; sugar was the backbone of the modern world and the countries that colonized it. Spain grew an unprecedented amount of wealth as a result of slave labor from the Caribbean for three centuries. However, this is not an age-old system; private US corporations continued to profit from sugarcane after 1898--it was labeled “industrial slavery.” There are people currently alive who endured this, and their memories, their history, and their ability to overcome oppression were embodied as the blades hit the cane.

As he walks through the field, he highlights MANY MANY MANY beautiful aspects of PR culture…I’ll describe two of my favorites.
 

• Piragua & Coco Frio stands: shaved ice desserts and fresh COLD coconut water. These are often found at the beach or on a street corner. Small businesses flourish in PR and other Latin American countries--similar to how elote or paleta stands are seen all over the US. 

• Domino players: I encourage you to look up the rules and not simply use your Dominoes to knock things over. These domino games are popular among Caribbean families, but it often gets competitive among older generations. In places with more concentrated populations of Puerto Ricans/Caribbean Latinos, there are often Domino tables anchored in public spaces.

The power of this statement is undeniable, but my favorite part of this segment was when he sang the song’s first couple of words: “Dime, ¿esto es lo que tú quería'?” Or “Tell me, is this what you wanted?” and the camera panned to Lady Gaga, a white, English-speaking woman, Benito’s antithesis, and the epitome of what conservatives wanted for the Super Bowl halftime show. Lady Gaga’s salsa rendition of “Die With a Smile” was a perfect example of my previous statement: music transcends language. To me, it was also representative of how white people tend to enjoy Latin culture. They enjoy our food, but look down on our people. They love vacationing in our countries, but turn a blind eye to blatant corruption that harms us. They like our music but not our lyrics. Perhaps I’m overthinking it. ​

On that note, he continued by saying a couple of words as the intro to “Monaco” played: “Mi nombre es Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, y si hoy estoy aquí en el Super Bowl 60, es porque nunca, nunca dejé de creer en mí. Tú también deberías de creer en ti. Vales más de lo que piensas. Confía en mí,”which loosely translates to "My name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, and if I'm here today at Super Bowl 60, it's because I never, ever stopped believing in myself. You should also believe in yourself. You're worth more than you think. Trust me.”

The wedding scene during “Baile Inolvidable” (one of my favorites from DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS) made me want to get up, dance, and sob at the same time. My family and Latinos in general LOVE a good party. It doesn’t even have to be a wedding for us to celebrate as they did in a performance. And it goes without saying that every Latino had the experience of falling asleep in a chair and being rudely awoken by their Tia or Tio to get up and dance. After finding out that the couple that got married on stage had originally invited Benito to their wedding, but were met with an invitation to be a part of the show, I had a newfound respect for him. (He’s getting an invite to my graduation). 

​After the wedding scene, Benito fell into the “Nuevayol” set that was representative of the mass influx of Puerto Ricans to the East Coast during the mid-19th century. Puerto Rico was still under Spanish rule, and they came to the US for the same reason as most immigrants: the nation offered a substantial amount of economic and educational opportunities. Even though the US took control of the island in 1898, Puerto Ricans did not gain official citizenship until 1917 under President Woodrow Wilson. However, the largest wave of Puerto Ricans (and Caribbean populations in general) occurred in the 1950s. From this point on, they fostered a uniquely beautiful culture throughout the city of New York--it appeared in literature, art, music, and gave Latinos space to speak out against socioeconomic issues both within the city and on the island. 

During this segment, he also featured Toñita (Maria Antonia Cay), the founder of the Caribbean Social Club in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Her space allows immigrants to feel more at home and stay connected to their culture. Bad Bunny has continuously honored her by inviting her to be on his television appearances, flying her out to PR for his residency, and, of course, recreating her club in the Halftime Show. 

Benito went on to give a Grammy award to a little boy as he and his family watched him make history that night. I should also note that the little boy was NOT meant to represent Liam Ramos; I think people saw a little Hispanic boy and ran with it. It likely represented his younger self, who would’ve never thought he could achieve half the things he did as an adult. I also think it was a message to every minority individual watching: you can all achieve success despite nearly every odd being stacked against you; you just have to work a little harder. 

By this point, viewers are on the edge of their seats, awaiting the next guest appearance. Bad Bunny finished up Nuevayol and began the next song, possibly the most emotional song off the album, “Lo Que le Paso a Hawaii.” An artist that nobody expected sang in place of Benito; Latin icons like Cardi B and Young Miko were seen in La Casita, but he chose to feature Ricky Martin. This was not a mindless choice to appeal to older generations who obsessed over Ricky Martin; it was a form of protest. He proved that Latin music no longer needed to appease English-speaking Americans to make an impact in the US. Beyond this, Lo Que le Paso a Hawaii was a sad love letter to both Puerto Rico and Hawaii. It is reminiscent of the two islands’ colonial pasts and their overtourist present. I’ll let the lyrics speak for themselves:
​

Quieren quitarme el río y también la playa
Quieren al barrio mío y que abuelita se vaya
No, no suelte' la bandera ni olvide' el lelolai
Que no quiero que hagan contigo lo que le pasó a Hawái

Thеy want to take my river and my beach 
They want my neighborhood and grandma to leave
No, don't let go of the flag, nor forget the lelolai
'Cause I don't want them to do to you what happened to Hawaii

I will forever die on the hill that Spanish sounds horrible when translated to English. I promise these lyrics carry much more emotional depth than the translation depicts.

As the end of his segment approached, he featured dancers on electric lines and climbed up a utility pole. Upon first glance, it seemed a bit out of place considering the rest of the set was cohesive, but once I realized he was playing “El Apagon” or “The Blackout,” it all clicked. Benito has continuously spoken out about LUMA, a private power company that is responsible for power distribution in Puerto Rico. They were hired after Puerto Rico’s power grid was destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017, but unfortunately, they are horrible at their job. They’ve left over a million PR residents and HOSPITALS in the dark. The US government continues to do absolutely nothing about this. Are we surprised?​

Finally, he performed “Café Con Ron,” and he named every single country that makes up the North and South American continents. I scrolled on TikTok the night of the Super Bowl and saw endless videos of families cheering as their countries were named, and it was heartwarming. I’m happy to see that the propaganda of America just being the US is finally dissipating. Even if the rest of his show didn’t incorporate immense symbolism (which it did), and this was the only remotely political thing he did, it would’ve been enough. Throughout this joke of a presidency, people have made it abundantly clear that they are afraid of unity. They’re afraid of giving people the America they were once promised. They’re afraid of losing power. If this ending made you enraged or annoyed, you ARE the problem. I find myself continuing to watch the tail end of the show, with everyone jumping with pride,  carrying their flags, and singing “DtMF.” I sincerely hope that if your ears couldn’t understand Benito’s words, your heart still did. 

Seguimos aquí. 

lucia alvarez