Bad Bunny sings in Spanish. Almost at all times. But it’s not a easy determination – it’s an announcement. In an business that has traditionally pushed Latin artists to translate themselves, soften their edges, or neutralize their id to change into international stars, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio selected the alternative. Bad Bunny, as he’s recognized, doesn’t clarify Puerto Rico in his songs; as an alternative, his songs merely are Puerto Rican. And in that alternative, there may be politics – even when the music appears to communicate solely of affection, partying, or heartbreak.
This stance grew to become much more seen when he determined not to host concerts within the continental United States throughout his 2025-2026 world tour, apprehensive that ICE would put his followers in danger. However, he nonetheless agreed to headline the Super Bowl, happening this Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Bad Bunny singing on the Super Bowl means bringing Spanish-language songs, absolutely charged with references to Latino tradition, to the largest stage of American TV. To understand why Bad Bunny’s efficiency generates such enthusiasm and backlash, it’s necessary to first understand what his lyrics say.
Analysts consulted by NCS stated that the choice to carry out on the sporting occasion was calculated: it’s a manner of asserting the presence of the nation’s 65 million Latinos at a vital second for the immigrant group.
The determination was celebrated by his followers, but it surely additionally raised criticism from conservative sectors, particularly MAGA supporters, who questioned the singer’s language and his stance on the immigration measures taken by the Trump administration towards the Latin group.
The Puerto Rican singer defied critics: “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn Spanish,” he stated throughout his monologue at Saturday Night Live.
But how to understand Bad Bunny’s lyrics? Here’s a information to not solely comprehend his lyrics, but in addition the place they arrive from and what he’s speaking about when he sings.
The politics in Bad Bunny’s songs don’t present up simply when he instantly mentions the federal government, gentrification, or the historical past of Puerto Rico. It comes earlier than: in singing from Puerto Rico to Puerto Rico, utilizing his language and his Caribbean rhythm with out adapting them to exterior consumption.
That is seen within the native slang that he sprinkles all through his lyrics: phrases like “Boquete” (one of many songs from his most profitable – and most political – album “DeBÍ TiRaR MáS FOToS”), which in Puerto Rico means “pothole in the street” and is utilized by the singer as a metaphor for a previous love.
In “CAFé CON RON” (Coffee with Rum, in English), a collaboration with the Puerto Rican group Los Pleneros de La Cresta, you can hear typical slang corresponding to “loquera,” (celebration craziness), or “beber un galón,” (drink excessively).
Puerto Rico is not only the backdrop for Bad Bunny’s songs. It is a territory marked by financial hardship, political corruption, immigration, social disparity, and an ambiguous – and uneven – relationship with the United States. All of that’s displayed in his lyrics.
In “LA MuDANZA,” Bad Bunny sings, “This is Puerto Rico, people were killed here for raising the flag,” a reference to the 1948 Gag Law, which criminalized the possession or show of the nationwide flag – even inside one’s own residence – turning it into grounds for persecution after Puerto Rico had already change into a US territory.
In the refrain of “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” Bad Bunny sings: “They want to take my river and also the beach. They want my neighborhood and for your kids to leave. No, don’t let go of the flag or forget the lelolai. I don’t want them to do to you what happened to Hawaii.”
The music is extensively seen as a protest towards the displacement of communities and the privatization of pure sources – points that youthful generations on the island really feel are additionally taking place in Puerto Rico.
“The lyrics of that song, which criticize the gentrification of the island, US federal corruption, and local corruption within the Puerto Rican government … many people in Latin America can read those lyrics and think, ‘Oh, this song reflects my reality living in Mexico or living in Cuba,’” says Albert Laguna, a professor of American Studies at Yale.
Although Debí Tirar Más Fotos – which made history days in the past by turning into the primary absolutely Spanish-language album to win the Grammy for Album of the Year – is taken into account probably the most overtly political and Puerto Rico-centered album of Bad Bunny’s profession, his denunciations and references to the island have been current in his lyrics for for much longer.
Leaving, staying, and belonging
That voice displays a part of the expertise of those that had been pressured to depart their house however hold their id and recollections of life on the island alive.
Bad Bunny delves deeper into this nostalgia in “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” celebrating sunsets and on a regular basis life in San Juan that many miss. “Another beautiful sunset I see in San Juan. Enjoying all those things that those who leave miss,” the artist sings.
But why do they depart? This line from “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” sums it up: “He didn’t want to go to Orlando, but corruption pushed him out.” Corruption, lack of alternative, gentrification, and the displacement of communities have pressured hundreds of younger Puerto Ricans to depart their island behind.
Yet staying – and taking delight in a single’s roots – additionally turns into an act of resistance for Bad Bunny. “No one is getting me out of here, I’m not moving from here. Tell them this is my home, where my grandfather was born,” he sings in “LA MuDANZA.”