LAS VEGAS – Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LVIII halftime show on Sunday wasn’t just a performance; it was a pointed cultural and political statement, centered around the Puerto Rican cuatro and a challenge to conventional understandings of “America.” The 13-minute set, lauded for its energy and vibrant display of Puerto Rican culture, sparked immediate debate, with some critics questioning the artist’s place on the American stage even as others celebrated his unapologetic embrace of his heritage.
A pivotal moment in the performance came a little over nine minutes into the show, when Bad Bunny showcased the cuatro puertorriqueño, a ten-stringed instrument central to Puerto Rican music. The instrument, played by José Eduardo Santana, was given a dedicated spotlight just before Ricky Martin took the stage. This wasn’t a spontaneous inclusion, according to Alana Casanova-Burgess, host of the podcast La Brega, who spent months researching the instrument’s cultural significance for a podcast episode.
The inclusion of the cuatro, Casanova-Burgess wrote, raises fundamental questions about Puerto Rico’s status. “What does it mean that a colony has a national instrument? Could it mean that Puerto Rico is actually a country?” she posited in an analysis of the performance. Bad Bunny, a vocal advocate for Puerto Rican independence and known for displaying the light blue Puerto Rican flag associated with that movement, appears to believe the answer is yes.
Bad Bunny’s broader message extended beyond the musical choices. Before launching into a parade of flags representing countries across the Americas, he declared, “God Bless América,” a deliberate invocation that broadened the definition of the continent beyond the United States. The inclusion of the U.S. Flag alongside those of its neighbors was a conscious decision to present a hemispheric vision of America, challenging the U.S.’s historical claim to sole ownership of the term.
This challenge drew immediate reaction. Some right-wing commentators questioned whether Bad Bunny, as a Puerto Rican artist, deserved the honor of performing at the Super Bowl. This criticism, though, was met with a counter-argument that framed Puerto Ricans as “fellow Americans” by virtue of their U.S. Citizenship. Casanova-Burgess criticized this response, arguing that it implicitly accepted the colonial relationship between the U.S. And Puerto Rico, suggesting that it was acceptable for a colonial subject to perform at a quintessentially American event.
Casanova-Burgess highlighted the discomfort some feel when describing Puerto Rico as a “territory” or “commonwealth,” arguing that these terms obscure the reality of its colonial status. She also pointed to the employ of the term “mainland,” which she says centers the United States as the primary point of reference and relegates Puerto Rico to a peripheral position. She noted that Bad Bunny, through his performance, “invited the US to a party where it wasn’t the center of the universe – and showed the empire that’s OK. It can even be fun.”
Bad Bunny’s performance also alluded to the legacy of Eugenio Maria de Hostos, a Puerto Rican educator and intellectual who advocated for the unity of the Antilles and the Americas. In his song “La Mudanza,” Bad Bunny referenced Hostos’s wish to be buried in an independent Puerto Rico, with one of his songs playing and the blue Puerto Rican flag adorning his coffin. Hostos, known as “El Gran Ciudadano de las Américas,” embodied a vision of pan-American unity that Bad Bunny appeared to echo on the Super Bowl stage.
