Three-time Grammy winner Bad Bunny will be performing songs from his most recent album, “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS,” as the headliner for the 2026 halftime Super Bowl LX. His album is a celebration of Puerto Rico’s rich culture and diversity, mixing components of reggaeton and salsa, creating something that has never been seen before at the Super Bowl.
When I first heard this news, I gasped at the notification on my phone. I couldn’t contain my excitement knowing that a Latino artist that I had a great appreciation for was going to perform at one of the biggest American events of the year. Unfortunately, not everyone shared the same level of enthusiasm as me.
After he was announced as the headliner for the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny said he would not be performing any of his songs in English, causing an uproar throughout the social media, news outlets and politicians. Trump supporter Corey Lewandowski expressed his resentment toward the artist’s fans, claiming that the Trump administration was going to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the Super Bowl and arrest any Latinos that attend the game.
Ironically enough, it seems as if these politicians don’t know that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, meaning Bad Bunny is a completely legal U.S. citizen. This just proves that something needs to be done about the ignorance in this country, especially towards other cultures and ethnicities.
Most people can’t understand the frustration of witnessing thousands of people that look like you getting deported day after day on national TV. It’s hard to pretend like it doesn’t affect people that I know, people that go to this school every day. I’ve learned to understand some people couldn’t care less about the uphill battle my parents fought to settle somewhere new, somewhere where they make it clear that they do not want you. Like thousands of other families, we didn’t decide to immigrate to the U.S. simply because we wanted to. We migrated out of fear because the corruption in our own country got so bad we had no other option other than to flee the one place we called home.
Bad Bunny’s album did not only resonate with his Puerto Rican fans, it was a call-to-action and cry for help for all of the Latinos who have been racially discriminated against, especially in light of recent events. As a person of Venezuelan descent, I did not know how hard the lyrics from Bad Bunny’s most recent album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” would hit me once I clicked play. I sat in quiet solace and reflection, silently crying the first time I heard these lyrics from “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAII” or “WHAT HAPPENED TO HAWAII”:
“No, no suelte’ la bandera ni olvide’ el lelolai
Que no quiero que hagan contigo lo que le pasó a Hawái”
This translates to:
“No, don’t let go of your flag nor forget your dance,
Because I don’t want them to do to you what happened to Hawaii”
The lyrics of that song tell us to never forget who we are because when we do, we give up our culture. We give up what makes us unique. And we end up like all of the places whose diversity has been permanently erased.
But this song is not just about Hawaii.
It’s not just about Puerto Rico.
It’s about the struggle all marginalized groups have faced throughout America’s long history.
After Hawaii was colonized, the islands were turned into a tourist attraction, forcing natives to go into service jobs in order to make a living. Their culture has been largely erased because of American colonization, and Bad Bunny voiced concerns over the same thing happening to his own birthplace, Puerto Rico. He has taken an active stance against President Donald Trump since 2017 when the artist spoke out against the lack of aid that Trump sent to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Irma and Maria. Feelings were intensified recently due to ICE raids and mass deportations, leading Bad Bunny to announce that he would not be performing at any U.S. stops during his world tour to ensure that no U.S. enterprise would receive any share of his profits.
Instead, much of the revenue is being reinvested back into his homeland. Because of his album, local Puerto Rican businesses and vendors were able to gain popularity exponentially over the span of several months, adding an estimated $200 million to the island’s overall economy. Bad Bunny not only created a heartfelt passion project, but he brought light to what Puerto Rico has suffered and remained true to his values despite all the odds stacked against him. He is still planning to perform, and over a Saturday Night Live skit Bad Bunny gave a speech in Spanish about the Super Bowl controversy to which he then said, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”
