Bad Bunny’s gift to his two Americas
I’ve been very happily distracted by all the #bunnybowl content today — on one side of the American culture wars you’ll find the most wholesome place on the internet, on the other, the most unhinged. You know I’ve no interest in feeding the rage funnel so let’s talk about the wholesomeness.
Prior to his Grammy nominations at the end of last year, the only reason I knew Bad Bunny’s name was because he once dated Kendall Jenner. I don’t even care about the Kardashians but they are inescapable (don’t get me started on Lewis Hamilton and KIM KARDASHIAN hard launching at the Super Bowl). I started listening to DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS after the Grammy noms piqued my interest, and holy that album is a delight from start to finish. My love for BTS has opened up a whole world of appreciation for music that’s not in English. It takes a little more time and effort to engage deeply, but it’s so worth it. The great thing about Bad Bunny is you don’t need to understand the words to feel it. The language of joy and community is universal.
Everyone expected Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio to get political during his Super Bowl Half Time Show, and he did, but in the least contentious way possible — by bringing people together. He hinted at this approach last week after winning his first Grammy. “Hate becomes stronger with more hate,” he said, “the only thing stronger than hate is love. If we fight, it must be with love.” It’s a beautiful aspiration, and one he made good on. You can watch the full 13 minute set here, it’s filled with both meme-able and genuinely touching moments. The set, the production value, the performance, the cinematography, the message. It was all extremely epic.
All day on TikTok I’ve been served reaction videos featuring people from almost every country in the Americas. It’s like I was bathing in the reflected joy that’s emanating from this pocket of the internet — the joy of having their culture celebrated on America’s biggest stage. It’s easy to see just how important this moment was for the 500 million Spanish-speakers who live on the continent. There’s a reason Bad Bunny was the most streamed artist in the world in 2025. He’s beloved.
The most powerful moment came at the end, when Benito exclaimed “God Bless America” and proceeded to list all the countries in North, Central and South America while the words THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE were displayed on the screen behind him. He held up a football that said “Together, we are America.” Then he finished with his Grammy nominated song DtMF (I love you Billie Eilish but this should have won).
Watching people watch this moment is my current addiction, especially when I get to witness them hear the name of their country celebrated. Representation matters. You can see it wash over them like a wave.
The significance of the use of the song DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS for this triumphant moment is ironic, really. You could argue the division in the States right now is purely political, with conservatives seeking to preserve the status quo and liberals seeking to expand it. I tend to think more emotionally and see radical conservatism as a group of people with an irrational fear of change. The irony is that DtMF is about the exact same feeling. Fear of change is not unique to conservatives. For me, it hits every year on my kids’ birthdays. Plenty of artists create work that speaks to these universal human emotions: the sense of time slipping away, of loss and regret, and the very natural desire to resist atrophy. Time has a way of reminding us we’re mortal and some days that’s hard to take.
DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS translates to “I wish I took more photos,” and I think it’s one of the most beautiful and compelling artistic contributions to this genre of sentiment. In all the political furore around Bunny Bowl, despite the unwarranted hate that’s come flying his way — the ‘fake American’ accusations and blatant racism — Bad Bunny’s response was to give his people the gift of representation, and his haters the gift of DtMF. It’s a pathway to accepting the inevitability of change. If they’d only open their ears and listen.
Bad Bunny released an accompanying short film with the album that I discovered during my YT deep dive last night. It’s bittersweet and beautiful and life affirming. It’s tells us: change is already here, stop fighting it. Get drunk with your friends. Love your family. Take more photos. Turn the music up.