Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, known as “Bad Bunny,” led the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, which featured the Seattle Seahawks versus the New England Patriots. Bad Bunny’s Latin rap music blends with genres like pop and rap, while featuring Puerto Rican dialects that represent his cultural roots and Bad Bunny was recently announced as the most-streamed artist on Spotify. The primary slogan for his halftime show read “the only thing more powerful than hate is love,” with this message displayed on the jumbotron as he performed.
From the initial announcement that Bad Bunny would be the Super Bowl headline, Americans across the country had contrasting responses. After Bad Bunny took the stage, the audience had mixed reactions; many are still debating whether or not the performance met their Super Bowl standards. Sabine Kivland-Stackhouse ’27 found unity within Bad Bunny’s stage choreography, and although she found the show simple, there was constantly something to take in.
“What is considered a good performance at the Super Bowl is changing; artists throughout the past years match what is going on in the world,” Kivland-Stackhouse said. “The Spanish language and rap music have been gaining popularity in America, so I think Bad Bunny matched the vibes very well and made me have more appreciation for Latin music, even though it wasn’t your traditional show.”
As controversy sparked across social media, some concluded that Bad Bunny’s Spanish-language music was “un-American” and inappropriate to represent at the Super Bowl. Quinn Steinhebel ’27 noticed that many of his peers, including himself, were upset specifically with not being able to understand the lyrics, which made it challenging for them to relate to the performance due to the language barrier.
“I know that Bad Bunny had a large fanbase and a lot of people enjoy his music, but I don’t think it was the right fit for the Super Bowl,” Steinhebel said. “I wasn’t familiar with any of his songs, nor did I really understand any, so that made it challenging for me to enjoy the performance overall.”
The stage was filled with 380 dancers dressed as tall grass, as various scenes incorporated everyday life experiences, like a shaved-ice stand and a barber shop. Lindasy Darke ’27 found the stage environment to be very immersive and appreciated the constant surprises that filled her screen, especially when Lady Gaga joined Bad Bunny singing a salsa-infused version of “Die With a Smile.”
“I thought the whole dynamic of the show was so intriguing, because there were so many different parts and components with unexpected special guests like Lady Gaga,” Darke said. “For example, the people dressed up as grass, the dancing and the wedding scene pumped me up and each scene to come was a complete eye opener, which is what the Super Bowl is all about.”
Kivland-Stackhouse believes music is something that should bring us joy, but recognizes that it can also carry political relevance. She found Bad Bunny’s performance to hold much symbolism and intention, especially when he held up a football that represented praise for American culture, as many wanted.
“His performance proved how there is so much progress needed in America, as a society some people were so quick to hate because Bad Bunny is a Latin artist and looks different from what an ideal “American” looks like in some minds,” Kivland-Stackhouse said. “Representation is what makes America, America, and diversity is what America’s backbone is built on.”
