Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show was already groundbreaking before it had even begun, as the first-ever Spanish language music set to grace the biggest date in the NFL season.
The symbolism of the moment was clearly not lost on Bad Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, who packed his roughly 15 minute set with Latin American cultural and artistic references, as well as a few pointed messages.
Bringing the sugarcane fields of Puerto Rico to San Francisco’s Levi’s Stadium, Ocasio dressed all in white as he belted out his biggest tracks and wheeled past famous faces like Cardi B and Pedro Pascal, even featuring Lady Gaga in a surprising guest spot.
But it was one of the smaller moments that many will have missed that some found to be the most poignant of the night. While tearing through the fields surrounded by pulsating dancers, Ocasio briefly bent down to a small boy.
Bad Bunny’s halftime set was elaborate and brought a slice of Puerto Rico to the Super Bowl (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
This young boy, stood in front of a TV, is handed a Grammy by Bad Bunny.
But while this could be read as an exploration of how his success, winning six of these awards, encourages the younger generations, many thought it was a more direct political statement.
“The little boy, Bad Bunny, gave the Grammy to resemble Liam Ramos. Wouldn’t be surprised is it was intentional,” one X user argued.
Liam Ramos is the little five-year-old boy who was taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in January, while walking to his home from school in Columbia Heights, Minnesota.
With the rest of the set signalling Bad Bunny’s solidarity with his fellow Spanish speakers amid a year of hardline immigration crackdowns, another user concurred: “Pretty sure Bad Bunny gave one of his Grammys to Liam Ramos, well done sir! What an AMAZING SHOW!!! Love over hate, always.”
Yet while many wondered if the boy was Liam, child actor Lincoln Fox confirmed on Instagram that he had been playing Ocasio’s younger self. He said: I’ll remember this day forever! @badbunnypr – it was my truest honor.”
But while many were struck by this touching moment, it was one of a number of somewhat subtle messages littering Ocasio’s performance.
In one, the Latin trap rapper presented a football to the camera as he left the sugarcane field, with the ball simply reading: “Together we are America.”
Bad Bunny ended his set with a strong statement about love (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, as fireworks lit-up the stadium ahead of the second half in the struggle between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, a billboard above the crowd stated ‘the only thing more powerful than hate is love.’
This echoed the sentiments Bad Bunny expressed while accepting a Grammy last week, where he said: “We are not savage. We are not animals, we are not aliens, we are humans, and we are Americans.”
He added: “The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love.”
Despite this message about love, President Trump did his best to be a hater on Sunday night.
The world leader slammed Ocasio’s performance as ‘disgusting’ and calling it an ‘an affront to the Greatness of America.’ The president of a country with 40 million Spanish speakers added that ‘nobody understands a word this guy is saying.’
Featured Image Credit: Channel 5
Topics: Bad Bunny
