Behind the Beats: Bad Bunny
Congratulations to Bad Bunny for winning the Super Bowl. When love outweighs hate, this is the outcome.
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio kicked off the halftime show with a video montage of workers in a real sugarcane field in Puerto Rico. “¡Qué rico ser latino!” a worker yelled, which translates to “How wonderful it is to be Latino.” Cameras then cut back to the football field, where he began the performance with his 2018 hit “Mucha Novia,” strolling through a maze of people dressed as tropical grass bundles and sugarcane stalks. As we followed him virtually through the maze, different traditional Latin scenes began to play out: boxers sparring, a group of older men playing dominoes, a bodega, a raspado (shaved ice) cart, and even a gold jewelry stand.
The scenes instantly took me back to a time when these were all very normal scenarios in my day-to-day life as a child in my home country of Panama. They were also reminiscent of our adopted New York boroughs, which feel like a lot like home when you’re within your respective communities.
I couldn’t contain myself; tears of pride flowed through the entire performance. He continued to a little pink house in center field, the same house he used on set during his month-long residency in Puerto Rico this past year. The series of concerts garnered over 200 million dollars for the small island in tourism.
In La Casita, I spotted Cardi B, Jessica Alba, Pedro Pascal, Karol G, and so many more cameos celebrating with him. It was an amazing sight. Cameras cut to a wedding that just so happened to be very real. The story behind the wedding scene was that a couple had invited Bad Bunny to their special day, as many couples have done before, and to their surprise, he decided to do something special for them as his loyal fans in return and invited them to tie the knot on one of the biggest platforms of the year.
Lady Gaga then serenated the Bride and Groom, leading them in dance in a dress the color of the original revolutionary Puerto Rican flag, and donning a corsage made of the national flower of P.R. Such an epic story for their grandbabies
One of my favorite parts of the performance was a scene of a small boy watching Bad Bunny win his Grammy on a tube TV with his parents. Benito then hands the real Grammy to the little boy, who was a representation of himself as a child. So symbolic.
Ricky Martin made a short cameo that took me back to the “Menudo” days, then came the finale. A parade of flags waved as he recited the names of many Latin American countries. I heard him call out my home country of Panama, and I shed more tears. I felt so much pride; this performance took me home, even if only for just 12 minutes. He did this while donning a bulletproof vest due to death threats he received because he was performing, but threats and all, he accomplished the curation of the most-watched halftime show in history.
Good job, Conejo Malo!
