Refreshing Generational Pride: Bad Bunny’s Influence on Latino Pride in America

Enrique Lara

Music Journalist

“Y si hoy estoy aquí en el Super Bowl es porque nunca dejé de creer en mí, tú también deberías de creer en ti…” 

—“And if I’m here at the Super Bowl today, it’s because I never stopped believing in myself. You should believe in yourself too…”

Bad Bunny announces his full name, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, amid the vibrant movement within his Puerto Rico set. To non-Latino watchers, a Spanish name can fly by. But to Latinos watching who could not imagine themselves as great, especially within the recent stigma around Latino pride, can finally cheer at the TV not only for their team, but for a refreshing new outlook on defining unity in America.

This is one of the first times for so many people to witness places like Puerto Rico, especially. Many people, in fact, do not know how much of Puerto Rico they actually experienced, either.

The music invited the world into Latino culture with the set itself as an homage to the cities of Puerto Rico. From the piraguas cart, people just playing dominoes, and the shared experience of being a child sleeping on a makeshift bed after a party extends a couple of hours past midnight, all were displayed underneath songs almost exclusively in Spanish. Yet, like Latino culture, it is meant for the world to enjoy, and the performance alone became the most-watched halftime show, according to Apple Music. As stigmatized as the performance was portrayed leading up to the show, the statistics say otherwise, with an outstanding display of how quiet, suppressed voices can build the largest crowds.

People are afraid right now. This performance will inspire a lot, and it will be the beginning of a larger push to become confident in just existing. Bad Bunny’s music is a tool of unity filled with influence that will be part of the revolution in uniting the world through something stronger than hate. By showing how Latinos dance, celebrate, cheer, work, and just exist in pride, it’s hoped that people will not have to experience this pride only on a halftime field but can express it confidently every day in America.

While some can claim there is nothing inspirational about this “mess of a halftime show,” the world disagrees. The double standards will always exist, but there is no point in feeding into the hate when there is so much love to express. Flags from North America were flown across the field and charged into a final message of unity before playing a final song, “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS,” with everyone dancing, not just Puerto Rico. The world can feed on hate, but music is a weapon worth keeping close.