Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance extended beyond the music. From the display of the Puerto Rican flag to visual nods toward the island’s ongoing power crisis, the show carried imagery that resonated across generations and cultures. Here’s a closer look at the details viewers might have missed and what DePaul students said stood out most to them.
Political undertones in the set design
At the start of Bad Bunny’s performance of his song “El Apagón,” which translates to “the blackout” in English, he emerged from the bushes holding a Puerto Rican flag.
The colors of the Puerto Rican flag carry resistance history. From 1898 to 1957, it was illegal to display the flag under U.S. Gag Law. The origin of the Puerto Rican flag can be traced to 1895, when it was designed by Puerto Rican independence activists in exile in New York. The flag is inspired by the Cuban flag, but with inverted colors to symbolize solidarity in Caribbean liberation movements.
Originally, the triangle on the flag was light sky blue, reflecting the shade used by early revolutionaries in the Grito de Lares flag, a revolutionary banner used during the 1868 uprising against Spanish rule. Over time — especially after the flag was officially adopted by the government in 1952 — the blue commonly shifted to a darker navy tone, aligning more closely with U.S. flag aesthetics during the Commonwealth era.
Bad Bunny and a few dancers performed on top of prop utility poles during the song, representing the ongoing electricity crisis since Hurricane María in 2017.
Hurricane María destroyed 80-90% of transmission lines and left the entire island without power. It was one of the longest blackouts in American history, leaving some Puerto Rican residents without power for months. Because of a shortage of trained lineman and equipment, FEMA created different aid agreements with private companies to deploy thousands of linemen to Puerto Rico.
President Donald Trump, in his first office term at the time, sparked outrage in his visit to the island following the hurricane when he threw paper towels to survivors. He also made false claims about the death tolls in Puerto Rico and faced scrutiny for the U.S.’ lack of responsiveness and basic aid in María’s aftermath. Eight years later, the system is fragile and power outages are still common on the island.
Community figures and Latine representation
Bad Bunny brought out real Puerto Rican community figures.
Toñita — owner of Toñita’s Caribbean Social Club New York, a cultural hub for the diaspora — was one of them. The club was founded by Puerto Rican community leader María Antonia Cay and has stood as a cultural anchor for the diaspora. It was established in the 1970s amid waves of Puerto Rican migration to New York City. As gentrification reshaped the Williamsburg neighborhood, Toñita’s resilience turned the space into a living archive of Nuyorican history, bridging generations and sustaining community identity. During the show, a recreation of the interior of the club served as the backdrop for a brief but meaningful moment between Toñita and Bad Bunny. He also references her in his song “NUEVAYoL.”
Boxing star Xander Zayas also made an appearance representing the island’s younger generation. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and raised in Florida, Zayas turned professional at just 17 years old, becoming one of the youngest signees in Top Rank history. On Jan. 31, Zayas reached a career milestone by defeating Abass Baraou via split decision in Puerto Rico to unify the WBO and WBA super welterweight world titles, maintaining his undefeated record and becoming one of the youngest unified champions in the sport today.
Seeing these community figures was not the only familiar thing that viewers pointed out. Bad Bunny also had actors portray everyday people, like neighbors playing dominoes or going to the nail salon. People tuning in to the show felt represented by this, even if they don’t identify as Latine.
“It was something that I recognize as a person of color that really made me feel like home and reminded me of the neighborhoods that I grew up in,” said Lauren Williams, a DePaul junior. “I also really loved, on the topic of just Black History Month, how much melanin was in between the show and how much Bad Bunny didn’t want to stray from the different cultures that make up the Latine diaspora.”
Ilderina Astafa, a DePaul junior, called the halftime show a beautiful and colorful celebration of culture. She related to seeing a child pulling together some chairs into a makeshift bed so he could sleep during a party, and said she was once that child at one point in her life.
“I liked how it was something that a lot of immigrants and a lot of children of immigrants can relate to,” Astafa said.
Bad Bunny also had a child actor portray a younger version of himself and handed him one of his Grammy awards, an action that resonated with another DePaul junior Emanuel López.
“This held a lot of meaning to me because that child is still inside all of us, and it implies that Bad Bunny did all of this and got to where he is now because of himself,” López said.
Guest stars
Pop singer Lady Gaga was the first guest artist to join Bad Bunny onstage. She performed a salsa version of her song “Die With a Smile,” which features fellow Puerto Rican singer Bruno Mars. She then danced alongside Bad Bunny to “BAILE INoLVIDABLE,” a salsa song from Bad Bunny’s latest album.
Gaga’s dress featured the Flor de Maga — Puerto Rico’s national flower — symbolizing resilience and Puerto Rican pride. The dress, designed by Raúl López of Laur, combined traditional flamenco-inspired tiers with the same light sky blue reminiscent of Puerto Rico’s flag.
To the surprise of some — and possibly to the delight of many Latine women growing up in the late 1990s — Bad Bunny also brought out Puerto Rican artist Ricky Martin to perform a partial rendition of Bad Bunny’s song “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii.” The song addresses gentrification in Puerto Rico and critiques the potential consequences of U.S. statehood by drawing comparisons to Hawaii’s historical experience. It highlights the importance of cultural preservation and concerns about protecting the island’s identity through its lyrics: “Quieren quitarme el río y también la playa (They want to take the river and the beach) / Quieren al barrio mío y que abuelita se vaya (They want my neighborhood and for my grandma to leave).”
“The guest performers absolutely killed it, especially those who dressed as bushes,” López said. “Showing Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin was also a treat in itself and was lovely to see.”
“LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” uses instrumentation drawn from jíbaro music, and features a cuatro puertorriqueño, which is a 10-string guitar-like instrument considered the national instrument of Puerto Rico. The cuatro developed from earlier Spanish string instruments brought to the island during the colonial period, was made uniquely Puerto Rican over centuries as artisans tweaked the strings and finally made its way onto the Super Bowl stage as José Eduardo Santana, another Puerto Rican musician, showcased it to millions.
The Americas
At the end of his performance, Bad Bunny shouted out countries across North, Central, and South America — defining “America” as the entire continent. Behind him, a massive screen displayed, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” while dancers carried flags from each nation and reinforced the message.
Astafa said she appreciated the powerful reminder and thought it was an incredible symbol of unity.
“It was just nice to see how similar cultures are, and how, instead of looking at cultural differences, we can all look at our similarities and celebrate them,” she said. “I feel like that’s just what we needed, especially during this political climate right now where everybody’s being separated.”
Sofia Joseph and Laura Vázquez David contributed to this report.
