Bad Bunny celebrates Latin Identity!
San Juan, Oct 11 (EFE).-
Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny is using his platform to defend the Spanish language and celebrate Latin identity ahead of his 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, sparking both praise and backlash across the United States amid the policies of United States President Donald Trump.
By choosing to perform and speak Spanish on the biggest stages in the US, where English dominates, Bad Bunny sends a message of pride and resistance.
“Bad Bunny has chosen to express himself in Spanish in English-speaking media spaces, literally, figuratively, and linguistically planting his flag,” said Puerto Rican writer and linguist Maia Sherwood, a member of the Puerto Rican Academy of the Spanish Language.
Sherwood, author of El ABC de DtMF, a dictionary of expressions from the artist’s album Debí Tirar Más Fotos, described him as a “linguistically powerful figure.”
The world’s most-streamed artist hails from Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island that shifted from Spanish to US control in 1898 and today remains an unincorporated US territory.
Despite that, Spanish remains the island’s main language and the one Bad Bunny consistently uses in his music and interviews.
“You have four months to learn Spanish”
During his Oct. 4 appearance on Saturday Night Live, Bad Bunny told the audience that the Latino mark on the US “will never be erased,” adding a challenge to Super Bowl viewers: “You have four months to learn Spanish.”
The remark went viral, inspiring fans to post videos of themselves learning Spanish and singing his songs, clips the artist later shared to motivate others.
“The fact that he said, ‘I speak Spanish, and you have four months to learn,’ reflects the idea that we shouldn’t feel inferior for being Latino or Puerto Rican,” said LuisGa Núñez, music director of the traditional group Plena Libre.
For Sherwood, this represents “a reversal of linguistic power: Spanish, historically subordinate to English, becomes a language of cultural influence and prestige.”
Bad Bunny’s outspoken stance on migrant rights and his decision to skip US tour dates in protest of immigration raids have also drawn criticism from conservative circles.
President Trump called the NFL’s choice of Bad Bunny “absolutely ridiculous” and claimed not to know who he is.
Meanwhile, right-wing organization Turning Point USA announced it will host a competing show during the Super Bowl.
Inclusion through language and music
According to Sherwood, Bad Bunny’s advocacy isn’t about division.
“It’s not about separation or confrontation, Spanish here and English there, but about inclusion and the recognition of linguistic and cultural diversity,” she explained.
That inclusiveness also defines his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos, which features Puerto Rican rhythms like bomba and plena, sounds that could make their way onto the Super Bowl stage.
“It would be amazing to hear the cuatro (string instrument), the panderos (tambourines), and the barriles during the Super Bowl; it would be a dream,” said Plena Libre’s Núñez.
Urban music producer Raphy Pina also praised the artist’s stand: “Speaking Spanish on Saturday Night Live and at the Super Bowl isn’t just Puerto Rican pride, it’s proof that you don’t have to change who you are to succeed.”
“Bad Bunny opens doors and proves that language isn’t a barrier, it’s a banner,” Pina added, calling him an inspiration for “an entire generation of Latinos in the U.S. and beyond.” EFE
jm/seo
