For Bijou-Elyse Wallace, Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance will represent more than just music.
Wallace, a Howard University student and devoted fan of the Puerto Rican superstar, is getting ready to host a Super Bowl watch party for the first time ever alongside Changó, the Afro-Latin association at Howard, and the university’s student association.
In the past, Changó never really had a reason to host one. But this year, thanks to the multi-platinum Grammy winner and icon to many young Afro-Latinos, the reason is clear.
“I’m really excited to dance, sing, to be around people who know the same music, who will sing the songs with me, who will dance with me,” said Wallace, 20, who is of Puerto Rican descent.
Bad Bunny fever has swept the world and made its way into academia. Students are taking interest in where the Puerto Rican artist is getting his inspiration, and professors are hearing the songs from their students.
While some students and faculty may have the hots for Bad Bunny, he does have some haters. President Donald Trump called the Super Bowl’s selection of him “absolutely ridiculous,” and some MAGA supporters are hosting their own halftime show in protest.
Meanwhile, Black critics have challenged the artist’s use of African diaspora rhythms and hip-hop fashions, with some accusing him of appropriating Black culture.
But at Howard, Changó members are ten toes down for the artist, who was born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, and see his identity and music as a bridge to theirs.
The group currently has a podcast called Changó Radio to discuss all things Afro-Latino, including an upcoming podcast about Bad Bunny and his music.
At other universities, professors are weaving Bad Bunny into their syllabi and incorporating his music into their lessons.
On the heels of his big wins at this year’s Grammys, Bad Bunny’s halftime show is expected to not only be a love letter to Puerto Rico, but a celebration of Latin music and the diversity of an island shaped by Taíno, Spanish, and African heritage.
At Wellesley College, Bad Bunny’s influence found its way into Petra Rivera-Rideau’s course on the history of Puerto Rico. At first the course wasn’t popular, she said, but once she incorporated a more pop culture twist using Bad Bunny’s music to look at the history and colonialism on the island, the course attracted students from different backgrounds.
“Of course, as soon as I did that, the class was totally full, and it’s been full ever since,” she said.
His music provides space to talk about not just the island’s history, but also the complexities of its culture, Rivera-Rideau said.
In 2020 Shakira brought out Bad Bunny to perform during her joint Super Bowl performance with Jennifer Lopez. Bad Bunny faced backlash for his large fur coat and do-rag, with many people claiming the artist was appropriating Black culture.
In the U.S., race is seen as a binary system; you’re either Black or white. Throughout the Caribbean and Latin and South America, it’s more complex, going beyond a binary system.
“Latin America, racially, has its own specific way of doing it, but as a group, it’s a very complicated place,” Rivera-Rideau said.
“The Latin music industry has a lot of systemic racism in it,” she said. “The fact that Bad Bunny is on the whiter end of a racial spectrum means that he probably has access to many opportunities that a Black Puerto Rican artist doesn’t.”
Over the years, she said, he’s been more intentional about the history behind his sounds and has even brought more brown folks into the visuals for his music, something she’s discussed with her students. Rivera-Rideau said Bad Bunny is a student of music, with his more recent songs sharing themes similar to those of songs by older Afro-Latine artists.
The popularity of the class went beyond Wellesley College with Rivera-Rideau’s site, the viral site “The Bad Bunny Syllabus,” based on her class. The site goes through the history of reggaeton, the island, and even connects virtual students to other Latin artists who speak on social commentary.
Faculty can be fans, too
Ernie Jackson, a 60-year-old music professor at Queensborough Community College who is not Latino and doesn’t speak Spanish, began researching Bad Bunny for fun after watching students talk about the music with such great pride.
“I heard about this person,” he said, “and as a musicologist, I need to find out more about him.”
Growing up in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, many of his neighbors were Puerto Rican. While he never picked up the language, he remembers listening to whatever was on the radio at the time. Celia Cruz, an Afro-Cuban American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century, was a star then.
“I don’t think a lot of people understand that salsa origins and the people that made that happen to look like … you know, Celia Cruz,” he said.
Bad Bunny’s music doesn’t shy away from controversial topics like gentrification, sexism, and colorism, similar to older Afro-Latin artists, said Andrés Hincapié.
Hincapié, an Afro-Latino from the Dominican Republic, is an economics professor by day and dancer any other time. Music provides a safe space for him.
As Black people, “We enjoy these rhythms very much because they tend to speak to our heart,” he said. “There’s that downbeat that we would really really enjoy as humans in general.”
Although Hincapié said people who aren’t Spanish-speaking may not understand the language, the Bad Bunny craze could be due to people recognizing the music for the storytelling and emotion.
Super Bowl Sunday
Back at Howard, Wallace and her friends are preparing for what they and many others are calling the “Benito Bowl.” On Sunday, her group, Changó, will partner with the university’s student association to invite all to celebrate Bad Bunny’s sound.
Wallace, 20, is a devoted Bad Bunny fan, and when he takes the stage at the Super Bowl, his performance will represent more than just music to her.
She has played his award-winning album — Debí Tirar Más Fotos (I Should’ve Taken More Photos) — countless times and watched its short film at least four times. It reminds her of her grandmother, and of her love for Puerto Rico.
“It really just highlighted things like staying true to our roots, maintaining tradition, and making sure that the stories of our elders are passed down and our traditions are passed down as well,” she said.
To hear more Bad Bunny and some of the sounds that influence him — from reggaetón to salsa and beyond — check out our Spotify playlist: