Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny says he’s trying to stay calm ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl, Half Time Show – but it isn’t working out.
“Last night, I couldn’t sleep,” he said during a press conference for the show, admitting that he’d often woken up “thinking about the Super Bowl at 4am”.
The singer, who won album of the year at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, will be the first artist ever to perform the half time show entirely in Spanish.
His selection in September prompted opposition in right-wing media circles, where it was noted he had been critical of President Trump and his administration’s immigration policies.
The controversy even led one conservative organisation in the US to plan an alternative show during half-time – starring singer and Trump ally Kid Rock.
“I think the president would much prefer a Kid Rock performance over Bad Bunny, I must say that,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.
Bad Bunny did not address the bubbling tensions over his performance at Thursday’s press conference, where hosts Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden flattered him with softball questions.
However, security at the press event was tight. Journalists were required to pass through security scanners; and their bags were searched a second time as they waited for Bad Bunny to arrive.
Despite that, the musician seemed relaxed on stage, as he stretched languorously across a sofa in a long faux-fur coat.
And he hinted his performance would be more about unity and healing than spreading division.
“I know that the world is gonna be happy at this Sunday, and they’re gonna have fun, and they’re gonna dance and they’re gonna have a good time.”
The Super Bowl Half Time Show is one of the most-watched music events in the world, regularly drawing more than 100 million viewers in America alone.
Bad Bunny noted that he’d had to prepare his 13-minute segment in the middle of an extensive world tour, and joked that the pressure had eroded his competitive edge.
“I’m not even playing that much dominoes, and that is killing me, bro,” he said.
“In the last three games, I got a zero,” he said. “I need to talk to my therapist.”
Asked about the possibility of special guests on Sunday night, he refused to spill any secrets.
“You know that’s something I’m not going to tell you,” he laughed. “I don’t know why you asked that.”
Finally, as he reflected on the biggest week of his career, the star said that taking to “the biggest stage in the world” confirmed something he’d long believed.
“You always have to be proud about who you are and feel comfortable being yourself. Feel proud about your history where you from, but don’t let that limit yourself.”
Bad Bunny is the stage name of Puerto Rican singer Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio – whose genre-bending songs and convention-flouting lyrics have made him a global star.
Since 2020, he’s been the most-played artist on Spotify in four separate years (a clean sweep that was only broken by Taylor Swift).
With his doleful singing voice and a prolific work rate, he’s transformed the sound of música urbana, combining elements of trap, hip-hop and R&B with the traditional sounds of Latin pop.
He got his start singing in a church choir at the age of five, and earned his nom de plume from a childhood photo of him scowling in a bunny costume.
As a teenager, he studied audiovisual communication at the University of Puerto Rico; and worked as a bagger at a grocery store to pay for recording sessions.
One of his early songs, Diles, caught the ear of DJ Luian, who offered him a record deal.
Audiences instantly fell for his sound, where hard hitting beats and boisterous music contrast with the star’s low-key delivery.
By the time Western audiences discovered him – via a guest verse on Cardi B’s 2018 hit I Like It – Bad Bunny had already racked up 16 Top 40 hits on the US Latin charts.
He released his debut album, x100pre, on Christmas Eve 2018, to universal acclaim.
Showcasing his versatility, its songs ranged from the pop-punk of Tenemos Que Hablar to the reggaeton ballad Si Estuviésemos Juntos and the avowedly political Estamos Bien, which became an anthem for Puerto Rico after it was devastated by Hurricane Maria.
In 2020, his third album, El Último Tour del Mundo, became the first number one on the Billboard chart to be completely recorded in Spanish. Every subsequent album has also topped the US charts.
Along the way, he established a reputation for colouring outside the lines.
Instead of singing about seducing women, he talked about empowering them. He dressed in drag and wrestled in the WWE. He was a prominent figure in protests that led to the resignation of Puerto Rican governor Ricardo Rosselló, and he’s been a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
