Perhaps you’ve heard him featured on Cardi B’s 2019 hit “I Like it.” Maybe you’ve seen him host Saturday Night Live. You might have even seen his name during the Grammys, in recent headlines, or come across songs from his most recent album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” on your music streaming app of choice.
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny, is everywhere.
The Puerto Rican superstar, three-time Grammy Award winner and 17-time Latin Grammy Award winner, has redefined what it means to succeed in music: crossing cultural barriers while remaining steadfast to singing only in Spanish. On Feb. 8, he’ll take the stage as the halftime show headliner at Super Bowl LX, marking the first time the halftime show will be performed primarily in another language.
Alejandra Márquez is an assistant professor of Spanish in the Michigan State University College of Arts and Letters. She researches gender and sexuality in Latin American literature and culture and has used Bad Bunny as a learning tool in her classes.
Here, Márquez discusses the significance of Bad Bunny’s halftime show performance, the meanings behind his music and how his pride in Puerto Rico and his native tongue are shaping culture in the United States.
How does Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl appearance reflect the growing cultural power of Spanish language music and Latino communities in the U.S.?
The fact that Bad Bunny is going to be at the Super Bowl, given the current state of the world and our country, shows that even though there may be pushback against Spanish speakers, immigrants or people who look different from what we usually think of as American, there is no way to stop culture and language from spreading and being enjoyed by all kinds of people.
It also highlights the importance of Latino communities in the entertainment industry, not only as consumers but as people who value and enjoy art and music. It shows how Spanish music and cultural production are truly universal.
In 2025, Bad Bunny beat Taylor Swift to become the most streamed artist in the world on Spotify. That shows that regardless of what is happening around us, there is real cultural power in Spanish and in Spanish-speaking cultures and cultural production.
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What makes Bad Bunny’s choice to only perform in Spanish — especially at the Super Bowl — culturally significant?
It’s really important to have an artist who sings only in Spanish at the Super Bowl because in the current political and social climate — where people are often racially profiled or targeted for speaking Spanish — it shows that despite this tension, Spanish-language music and Latinx culture are thriving in the U.S. and around the world.
What does the pushback of Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance reveal about Spanish language and identity in the U.S.?
The pushback around Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance reflects a reluctance to recognize that Spanish is not a foreign language in the United States. The U.S. is the second-largest Spanish-speaking country, with over 40 million speakers. There is a wide range of views about what Spanish means for the country, but I think his Super Bowl performance highlights the importance of Spanish and how it is part of American culture. Much of the pushback comes from the perception that he is not American, even though he is.
How does Bad Bunny encourage audiences to engage more deeply with Spanish language and culture?
There are about 600 million Spanish speakers around the world. Connecting the language to culture helps you understand that Spanish is not just a set of grammatical rules, but a living, evolving language that shapes many different cultures and identities.
Bad Bunny has said in interviews that the Spanish he sings is very specific to Puerto Rico. Even people from other countries, including myself, who are not Puerto Rican, may not fully understand everything. That complexity shows how committed he is to his culture. It also pushes listeners, whether they speak Spanish or not, to do their research and try to understand where he is coming from and what he is saying. In that way, it shows that he does not underestimate his audience — he does not give us everything, and we have to make an effort to fully understand him.
How does Bad Bunny explore Puerto Rican identity, gender fluidity and social issues through his music and artistry?
Bad Bunny and his music are deeply engaged with Puerto Rican culture and history. Many of his songs address issues like political corruption and blackouts on the island, and he shows a strong sense of pride in his culture — something that is reflected not only in his music but in his overall performances.
He is able to bring that pride in being Puerto Rican and Latinx to a global audience.
Bad Bunny’s artistry also teaches us that gender and sexuality are fluid. In many interviews, he has said that sexuality exists on a spectrum and that he does not like to define his own sexuality. He often dresses in what we might consider feminine clothing and paints his nails, which may not seem novel in U.S. culture but is significant in Latin America.
He also shows that reggaeton, a genre often viewed as misogynistic or not well suited to addressing women’s issues or women’s rights, can be a space where those topics are openly discussed.
Reggaeton is often seen as a very narrow genre, similar to hip hop, in that it comes from the margins and frequently addresses issues relevant to marginalized communities. As a result, there are strong racial and class components in how reggaeton is perceived, which has led many people to view it as a complicated genre.
How does Bad Bunny’s popularity highlight support for Latino culture and diverse voices in U.S. music and entertainment?
Bad Bunny is truly a force to be reckoned with. His visibility shows that, despite the pushback against Latino communities, a large part of the U.S. is interested in learning about different cultures, supports that interest and finds him appealing.
The fact that he receives so much attention gives me hope that there is genuine interest in and support for diverse voices in music and entertainment.
