NEW YORK, Feb 1 \u2014 Only 10 years ago, Bad Bunny worked bagging groceries\u2014a shocking contrast with the cosmic fame the artist now commands.<\/p>\n
But his bestselling albums, last year\u2019s monumental concert residency in Puerto Rico and an endless string of smashed records are somehow just the beginning.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, the artist born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio could make Grammy history. Then a week later, he will take the world\u2019s most visible stage as the Super Bowl\u2019s halftime performer.<\/p>\n
Bad Bunny is in the running for six prizes at the Grammy Awards, including the night\u2019s most prestigious Album of the Year gramophone.<\/p>\n
His acclaimed Debi Tirar Mas Fotos\u00a0is just the second Spanish-language record ever nominated for the most coveted Grammy\u2014the first was also his, when Un Verano Sin Ti\u00a0was tipped in 2022.<\/p>\n
A win would be historic.<\/p>\n
But the nominations\u2014it\u2019s the first time work in Spanish has been simultaneously recognized for best album, best record and best song\u2014are meaningful all the same, said Petra Rivera-Rideau, an American studies professor at Wellesley College whose research focuses on Latin music and racial politics.<\/p>\n
Bad Bunny\u2019s success is particularly poignant as President Donald Trump\u2019s administration carries out a hardline immigration crackdown that in part targets Latinos.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have ICE raids, we\u2019re watching videos every day of people being profiled for speaking Spanish, whether or not they\u2019re US citizens,\u201d Rivera-Rideau, co-author of \u201cP FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance,\u201d told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current political moment just kind of ups the ante of what is already a profoundly significant thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inherently political\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bad Bunny, 31, grew up near Puerto Rico\u2019s capital San Juan, honing his vocal skills in a church children\u2019s choir before developing into a pre-teen who loved creating beats on his computer.<\/p>\n
He went viral on the DIY platform SoundCloud\u2014and thus began his rapid ascent to the top of global music.<\/p>\n
But even as his star rose, Bad Bunny remained firmly rooted in his heritage.<\/p>\n
Both at the Grammys and the Super Bowl, his mere presence is \u201cdeeply political,\u201d said Jorell Melendez-Badillo, a University of Wisconsin-Madison historian who collaborated with Bad Bunny on visual elements of the latest album.<\/p>\n
The artist is a US citizen: Puerto Rico is a Caribbean territory under US control since 1898.<\/p>\n
But, Melendez-Badillo says, he\u2019s also a colonial subject\u2014a reality explored on Debi Tirar Mas Fotos,\u00a0which features an ingenious melange of traditional sounds including salsa, bomba and plena, with infusions of reggaeton.<\/p>\n
Bad Bunny\u2019s commitment to singing in Spanish in a music industry that has historically marginalized Latino voices makes his mammoth success even more emblematic.<\/p>\n
For Melendez-Badillo, language has become \u201ccoded for the broader sort of racialized understandings of immigrants and immigration… this sort of nationalist idea of who gets to belong in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
Multi-generational appeal\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since 2000, the Latin Recording Academy has celebrated Spanish- and Portuguese-language music at the Latin Grammys.<\/p>\n
The Grammys also honor Latin music in specific categories.<\/p>\n
Both are important for ensuring representation, but they have also enabled Recording Academy voters to ignore Latin music\u2019s mainstream popularity.<\/p>\n
This year, Latin Recording Academy voters are eligible to vote for the main Grammy winners as well, a bid to create a more globally representative pool.<\/p>\n
That could make a significant difference for the likes of Bad Bunny\u2014but even then, Rivera-Rideau said, it\u2019s complicated.<\/p>\n
Much like Grammy voters long overlooked hip-hop, Latin Grammy voters have long sidelined the influence of reggaeton and Latin trap\u2014hugely popular genres Bad Bunny came up in.<\/p>\n
But his latest album has found multi-generational appeal, and that could improve its chance, as it is \u201cmore digestible\u201d to Grammy voters, Rivera-Rideau said.<\/p>\n
Super Bowl-bound\u00a0<\/p>\n
One week after the Grammys, Bad Bunny will reach yet another milestone as the headliner of the National Football League\u2019s Super Bowl halftime show\u2014a booking that prompted hand-wringing especially from conservatives over the \u201cwoke\u201d choice.<\/p>\n
But the Super Bowl is among the world\u2019s top broadcasts and its halftime presentation is for massive stars.<\/p>\n
Clearly, Bad Bunny fits that bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NFL wants to go global,\u201d Melendez-Badillo said, citing games held in Europe and Brazil. \u201cBenito sells tickets. Benito draws crowds.\u201d<\/p>\n
And of course, Bad Bunny is hugely popular across the United States, which has among the largest Spanish-speaking populations globally\u2014so why wouldn\u2019t he take part in one of the country\u2019s cultural touchstones?<\/p>\n
\u201cIn that context, it\u2019s just incredibly meaningful,\u201d Rivera-Rideau said. \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n
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