Perhaps Kendrick Lamar was talking to the current and the future when he stated throughout his Super Bowl halftime performance months again that “the revolution ‘bout to be televised.”
The announcement Sunday that celebrity Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny will headline the next Super Bowl halftime show marks the second time in a row that the National Football League has co-signed an artist who is deemed “controversial” by a few of the league’s supporters.
Lamar, a rapper from Compton, California, angered some conservative viewers with the political symbolism he utilized throughout his efficiency at Super Bowl LIX in February..
Some of the costumes, choreography and Lamar’s lyrics referenced systemic inequality and racism in the United States, all whereas the sport was attended by President Donald Trump.
But whereas Lamar has principally used his artwork to specific his sentiments, Bad Bunny has been extra overt about his dissatisfaction with the present administration.
In 2024, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in her marketing campaign for the presidency towards Trump. He reposted a video of Harris in a speech referencing Trump’s management throughout his first time period in workplace after Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
“I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader,” Harris stated in the video. “He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.”
Bad Bunny, whose non-stage title is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, made the publish after comic Tony Hinchcliffe’s remarks at a Trump rally in New York City by which he referred to Puerto Rico, a US commonwealth, as “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.”
Later, during an appearance on the New York Times “Popcast” podcast, Ocasio defined that he was “angry at the time” as he was in New York City whereas the rally the place Hinchcliffe made his feedback was being held at close by Madison Square Garden.
Ocasio stated he discovered the incident “bothersome.”
“Yeah, I know it was a comedian, blah, blah, blah, but that wasn’t a standup comedy show,” Ocasio stated. “It was supposed to be a political rally.”
The music video for Bad Bunny’s single “NUEVAYol” took intention at a few of Trump’s harsher insurance policies, whereas additionally paying tribute to the artist’s native Puerto Rico.
Ocasio lately advised i-D journal that he purposely did not include the continental United States in his 2025-2026 concert tour out of worry that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) might probably raid the live performance venues.
“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the US, and none of them were out of hate—I’ve performed there many times,” he advised the publication. “All of [the shows] have been successful. All of them have been magnificent. I’ve enjoyed connecting with Latinos who have been living in the US.”
US residents might journey to Puerto Rico for his residency performances (which has been an economic boon for his homeland), however the international celebrity stated he was not keen to pose a doable threat for his followers.
“But there was the issue of—like, f**king ICE could be outside [my concert],” Ocasio stated. “And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
His choice for the Super Bowl halftime present has incensed some on the proper who’ve criticized Ocasio as a “Trump hater.”
It’s actually not the first time the NFL has needed to take care of cultural controversy.
In 2016, Colin Kaepernick, the then San Franciso 49ers quarterback, sparked debate after he started kneeling throughout the National Anthem at the starting of his video games in protest of police brutality and racial inequality in the US.
He was launched from the staff and his perceived subsequent remedy by the NFL when no different groups picked him up, resulted in requires a boycott.
The league moved to sooth public anger in 2019 by asserting a partnership with rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z’s leisure firm, Roc Nation. As a part of the deal, Jay-Z was made reside music leisure strategist in command of producing the halftime present and aiding the NFL with social justice initiatives.
The deal was extended in 2024.
Jay-Z was initially met with criticism for agreeing to work with the NFL. He defended his resolution throughout a 2019 interview.
“The NFL has a great big platform, and it has to be all-inclusive,” Jay-Z stated at the time. “They were willing to do some things, to make some changes, that we can do some good.”
That inclusivity has been on show with the alternatives of each Lamar and Ocasio, the latter of whom Jay-Z praised in a press release tied to the announcement.
“What Benito has done and continues to do for Puerto Rico is truly inspiring,” Jay-Z stated. We are honored to have him on the world’s largest stage.”
Ironically, certainly one of the Super Bowl performances that had the largest backlash concerning its presentation of politics was Jay Z’s spouse, celebrity Beyoncé, when she carried out at the halftime present throughout Super Bowl 50 in 2016 and paid tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Super Bowl LX is scheduled to happen at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, February 8, 2026.