When Bad Bunny took the stage at the Super Bowl halftime show Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, he delivered more than just a high-energy performance. 

For 128.2 million viewers across the country, Bad Bunny turned one of the most viewed televised events into a declaration of Latin American history and pride in a time of intensifying national tensions over immigration and Latino identity. 

Puerto Rican rapper Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, known professionally as Bad Bunny, has emerged as a global music phenomenon, making history at the 2026 Grammy Awards as the first-ever artist to win Album of the Year for a Spanish-language album. Amílcar Antonio Barreto, a professor in the Northeastern University Department of Cultures, Societies and Global studies, describes Ocasio as a “powerful spokesman for his generation in Puerto Rico.”

Bad Bunny opened the show with jíbaros, or traditional Puerto Rican countrymen, in pavas, or straw hats, working in sugar fields. This was a reference to the Spanish colonization and exploitation of the indigenous Taíno people that shaped Puerto Rico’s history.

Visuals of piragua carts, reggaeton choreography, men playing dominoes, bodegas and more flashed across television screens. Barreto described it as a “mosaic of Puerto Rican culture and history.”

For Lillianis Rodriguez, a second-year criminology and criminal justice major at Northeastern, who was born in Puerto Rico and immigrated to Boston as a child, this felt personal. “I cried during the performance,” Rodriguez said. “Seeing so many aspects of Puerto Rico on stage — it hits different.” 

Rodriguez is part of NU PODER, a first-generation low-income early arrival program that aims to provide resources and support to incoming marginalized first-year students.

The club’s focus on access and upward mobility ties to her own family’s decision to immigrate, a journey she saw reflected in Bad Bunny’s halftime performance. “We left the island to find better opportunities, to chase that American dream. So seeing my culture up there reminded me that no matter where I am, I carry my culture with me,” Rodriguez said. 

Later, as Bad Bunny performed “El Apagón” suspended above power lines, the symbolism sharpened. The song references the island’s devastating power outages following Hurricane Maria in 2017, when the Trump administration delayed aid to Puerto Rico, leaving the country without electricity or clean water for months. “Yes, we’re part of the U.S., but a lot of people don’t even see that,” Rodriguez said. “There’s a lack of support the U.S. has given Puerto Rico while still claiming it as a territory.” 

Among its rich political references, the performance also stood out for its artistic excellence. 

Carlotta Dolci, a second-year architecture major and social media co-chair of Northeastern’s Live Music Association, said she was struck by the intentionality of the show’s design. 

“I was really amazed by the storytelling during the performance,” Dolci said. “Through the camera work and the set design, we were brought through Puerto Rico and different parts of [Ocasio’s] life. It was really beautiful, not just musically, but visually.”

Beyond the staging and camera work, another extraordinary choice shaped the performance’s impact — for the first time in Super Bowl history, the Spanish language dominated the halftime show. 

Barreto described the decision as a powerful reversal of long-standing linguistic hierarchies in the U.S. 

“By Bad Bunny singing in Spanish, it was an inversion of linguistic power dynamics,” he said. “Usually in the U.S., Spanish and other languages are subordinate to English. But for one brief moment, that role flipped.”

Despite the fact that Ocasio’s performance catered to the 43 million Spanish-speaking Americans who make up about 15% of the country’s population, the choice to center Spanish led to backlash, specifically from conservative commentators who argued the show alienated English-speaking audiences.

Dolci argues that rather than dividing the country, the choice “expanded the conversation.”

“Music is still music, no matter what language it’s in. You don’t have to understand what is being said to still receive emotion,” she said.

The appearances of iconic Latino figures, like Colombian singer Karol G and Mexican-American actress Jessica Alba, further amplified the show’s cultural impact.

Introduced by the cuatro, Puerto Rico’s national instrument, Ricky Martin joined Bad Bunny to perform “Lo Que Pasó a Hawái,” a song that warns against the displacement and overtourism seen in Hawaii and urges the U.S. not to repeat that history in Puerto Rico. As one of Puerto Rico’s most iconic and widely-loved artists, Martin’s performance resonated across generations.

Lady Gaga also appeared in a light blue flamenco dress with a brooch of Puerto Rico’s national flower. The dress’ celeste blue is reminiscent of the original shade of Puerto Rico’s flag, one that was replaced by a darker navy version to represent the U.S. This detail, subtle but deliberate, underscored one of the performance’s themes: Puerto Rican identity on its own terms.

Together, the guest appearances reinforced what Barreto described as a broader cultural statement. “He’s not getting up to make speeches,” Barreto said. “His activism is coming through his music.”

But the stage was not reserved for celebrities alone. Among other Hispanic business-owners in the U.S., Bad Bunny spotlighted Maria Antonia Cay of Caribbean Social Club, known popularly as Toñitas: a Latino Social Club in Brooklyn that has resisted gentrification for years. “Bringing people like Toñita wasn’t just highlighting her business, it was highlighting everything she’s built and the community she’s touched,” Rodriguez said. 

This representation is undoubtedly significant considering how much of the diaspora lives on the mainland. According to Barreto, there are approximately 9 million Puerto Ricans, and two-thirds live on the U.S. mainland. By centering figures like Toñita, Bad Bunny affirmed the presence of a community that has worked, contributed and planted deep roots across the U.S.

In a political climate saturated with anti-immigrant rhetoric, the show was undeniably pressing. “His halftime performance and all the controversy around it is coming at a time when you are seeing an American society, starting with the White House, engaged in the de facto criminalization of people of Latin American origin — whether they are citizens, as in the case of Puerto Ricans, or immigrants,” Barreto said.

This year, the halftime show stage was more than entertainment; it served as a space to spotlight marginalized voices. “We’re being pushed out, our communities are being treated like criminals,” Rodriguez said. “Seeing this on full blast showed how important it is for us to stay grounded and remember we’re here for a reason.”

Dolci believes Bad Bunny’s performance was a major step toward expanding minority representation in mainstream live music. “I hope this encourages artists to use big stages to share messages that matter to their communities,” she said.

Rodriguez said it best. The performance is a reminder for Latinos to: “Be loud. Be proud to be Latino. Be loud and proud to be Hispanic.”