When the NFL announced in September that Bad Bunny would perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, many immediately expected Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio to make a statement.
There was backlash from those who believe a Spanish-language performance is un-American—despite Puerto Rico being a U.S. territory. Others criticized the idea that any performance on an NFL stage could meaningfully challenge the league’s power, especially after Colin Kaepernick’s protests, arguing that artists who accept the invitation are entering a space built on capital and nationalism. And as Bad Bunny’s popularity peaked this week, some Puerto Ricans noted that for many fans, their engagement with the island often begins and ends with the artist.
Still, his 2025 album Debí Tirar Más Fotos stands as a powerful recent chapter in Bad Bunny’s chronicle of Puerto Rican resilience. It warns soberly of Puerto Rico’s cultural erosion amid foreign tax incentives and economic displacement; it honors Afro–Puerto Rican musical traditions like bomba and plena as forms of storytelling and resistance; and his 31-show residency at El Coliseo de Puerto Rico—instead of a world tour—pumped millions into the island’s economy. All of it reflected his unwavering commitment to his homeland, identity, and history.
The Super Bowl halftime show is inherently about compromise. But as he kicked off the “Benito Bowl,” his biggest concession seemed to be the number of words bleeped out of his verse.
A young man carrying a Puerto Rican flag before a field of sugarcane opened with a blessing for all: “Qué rico es ser latino. Hoy se bebe” (“How sweet it is to be Latino. Today we drink”), echoing one of Benito’s most un-broadcast-friendly songs.
Dressed in white like the rest of the performers—and wearing a stunning custom Ocasio jersey-blazer embroidered with his mother’s birth year, 1964—Benito proved many bettors right by performing “Titi Me Preguntó,” the anthem behind his many-girlfriended persona.
Around him, he built an entire ecosystem of community: elders playing dominoes, street vendors selling coco frío, piraguas, and tacos (from L.A.’s own Villa’s Tacos), boxers Xander Zayas and Emiliano Vargas in the ring, and a man proposing to his girlfriend just as the femme-forward “Yo Perreo Sola” began. “Las mujeres en el mundo entero,” he declared, “perreando sin miedo” (“Women all over the world, perreando without fear”). Behind him, at the casita modeled after a typical island home, stood a yearbook of stars including Karol G, Pedro Pascal, Cardi B, Jessica Alba, Young Miko, and Alix Earle.
Those with little imagination might have thought “Safaera”—the hardest, dirtiest perreo track from YHLQMDLG—would be impossible to pull off. Instead, Benito leaned into the song’s many bleeps and one famously FCC-unfriendly line.
Just when things couldn’t get rowdier, Benito crashed through the roof into the casita, disoriented as a medley of reggaetón’s heaviest hits unfolded—including Tego Calderón’s “Pa’ Que Retozen,” Don Omar’s “Dale Don,” and of course, Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina,” before blending into his own hard-hitting “EoO.” The show served as a dazzling tribute to Puerto Rico’s many musical legends—in reggaetón, salsa, and jíbaro music—that Benito is carrying forward, ensuring they’re never forgotten.
Lady Gaga wasn’t among the most predicted guests, but even “Die With a Smile” turned into a celebration when Gaga and Los Sobrinos gave it a salsa twist at an onstage wedding. Benito then joined her for a beautiful “Baile Inolvidable,” Latine wedding–style, before… [text cuts off]I sat on a chair and everything. Later in the performance, Ricky Martin would pour his heart into every “le lo lai” of “Lo que le pasó a Hawaii.” But my favorite celebrity sighting came during “Nuevayol,” amid a re-creation of a beautiful block of barbershops and bodegas: the holy mother of Williamsburg herself, Toñita, adorned in all her rings, inside a replica of her Caribbean Social Club. Since 1974, her club has resisted displacement by developers and remains the place for the community to get full plates of food and $3 Medallas.
Benito delivered on his music’s promise to showcase the reality of Puerto Rican life. In a stunning performance of “El Apagón,” he ran the light-blue flag of Puerto Rican independence across the field, while performers on power lines evoked the frequent blackouts caused by the island’s decaying energy infrastructure. This somber moment quickly shifted to the jubilant call-and-response of “Café Con Ron” as Benito was joined by Los Pleneros de la Cresta.
“God bless America,” Benito proclaimed as he neared the finish, promptly naming Chile, Argentina, and all of South and Central America and the Caribbean before ending with the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. “Seguimos aquí” (“We’re still here”), he closed, spiking a football that read: “Together, we are America.”
Elsewhere in the performance, Benito handed a young boy watching his Grammys speech on television an award of his own—last week, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” won Album of the Year, the first predominantly Spanish-language album to do so. But earlier in the broadcast, he opened his first acceptance speech with the simplest statement he could make amid the ongoing presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis. “Before I thank God, I’m going to say… ICE out,” he said, the first to do so on the broadcast, to a roar of applause. “We’re not savages, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.” In September, he acknowledged that the potential for immigration enforcement at his concerts influenced his decision not to tour the mainland U.S.
Embedded in the politics of “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” is the unshakable truth that Puerto Rico cannot be absorbed into the United States or a generic “Americanness.” Throughout his work, he has highlighted the loss of Caribbean identity, labor, and slang that occurs when the American imagination tries to assimilate or blur its cultures.
This wasn’t Benito’s first time performing at the halftime show. In 2020, he was a guest of Jennifer Lopez and Shakira at Super Bowl LIV in Miami. That performance was, at best, a defiant celebration of two Latina giants of the 21st century, and at worst, with its protest element symbolized by cages dotting the field, it showcased Latine oppression. Where did that conversation lead? And who did it really benefit?
Many violent realities for our communities persist outside. The Super Bowl will never televise the revolution. But this year, Benito reminded so many of us of the love, the community, and the pure joy we create together every day, in spite of everything else.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about Bad Bunnys Super Bowl LVII halftime show framed as questions a real person might ask
General Beginner Questions
Q What was so special about Bad Bunnys Super Bowl halftime show
A It was historic It was the first time a solo Latino artist and specifically a Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar headlined the show It was a massive proud celebration of Latin music and culture on one of the worlds biggest stages
Q When did his halftime show happen
A It was during Super Bowl LVII on February 12 2023 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale Arizona
Q What songs did Bad Bunny perform
A He opened with El Apagón and Moscow Mule then performed snippets of Tití Me Preguntó Después de la Playa and I Like It with Cardi B and J Balvin He closed with his global hit Dakiti
Q Why did he start the show speaking in Spanish
A His opening line Esto es pal que lo tenían olvidado was a powerful statement of representation directly addressing and celebrating his Latino fanbase in their language
Q What was with the giant Puerto Rican flag and the vejigante masks
A These were direct symbols of Puerto Rican pride The flag is selfexplanatory and the vejigante masks are a traditional part of Puerto Rican Carnival celebrations representing the islands rich AfroCaribbean heritage
Advanced Detailed Questions
Q How did his show fit into the larger theme of that years halftime
A His segment was part of a triheadliner show that also featured Mary J Blige and Dr Dre Bad Bunnys set established the energy and modern global relevance bridging into the legacy hiphop and RB acts that followed
Q What was the significance of the cabañuelas and the setting
A The show began with a staged rainstorm and a neighborhood setting evoking the vibrant communal feel of a Puerto Rican
