In this article, we will explore the cultural significance of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance for our Spanish classes. This blog piece will also discuss practical ways to incorporate elements of this groundbreaking performance into your classroom.
*Image credit: Rolling Stone
On January 10th, 2025, I wrote a blog post completely inspired by Bad Bunny’s five-day-old album: “Bad Bunny & “DeBÍ TiRaR MáS FOtoS”: More Than Entertainment—A Cultural Statement That You Need To Teach.” The album’s vision was so clear to me—it tackled significant social justice issues while expressing a level of creativity and cohesiveness that blew my mind. I knew this album was going to be a home run. ⚾️
Fast forward to February 8th, 2026, and Bad Bunny sang the songs from that very album on one of the biggest stages in the world: the Super Bowl halftime show. Bad Bunny, whom I’ve followed for his entire career, has elevated beyond being an artist: he is a moment. He brought awareness to social justice issues, the rich culture of Puerto Rico, and put the Spanish language front and center (read the article “Duolingo reports a 35% increase in Spanish learners following Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show” and see the quote below).
“Bad Bunny defiende el español desde el uso natural y creativo del idioma y, lo más importante, sin ningún tipo de complejos (…) Busca hacer un uso de la lengua con total naturalidad. Canta en español, mantiene los rasgos identitarios del español caribeño y es capaz de conectar con públicos muy diversos, hablen o no la lengua.”
-Director of the Instituto Cervantes in Los Angeles, Javier Muñoz-Basols (click for source)
I don’t know about you, but I’m still thinking about Benito (Bad Bunny) and his halftime performance. Beyond playing clips in class and sharing key symbolism and metaphors, I find myself wondering, “How can we, as Spanish teachers, keep this momentum going for our students?” This halftime show wasn’t just about entertainment: it was a ready-made lesson on culture, identity, and the Spanish-speaking world. It was one of those rare moments where culture, music, and student interest all aligned.
Benito Bowl: #TheExperience
Did you know that Bad Bunny’s performance averaged around 128.2 million viewers (including me)?! (Source) This was the “Benito Bowl.” That was the witty name I kept seeing on social media for Super Bowl LX, underscoring that the night was more about Bad Bunny and his live show than the teams playing (I still don’t even know who was playing—oops!).
And the numbers don’t lie. Bad Bunny’s performance generated, on average, more viewers than the game itself up to that point (though the game did peak at 137.8 million viewers when it was close) (Source).
Y por Dios santo, Bad Bunny sure did deliver! It was a performance rich in symbolism and history, affirming the ties that bind us throughout the Americas. As I waved my “honorary” Puerto Rican flag (a byproduct of living in a Puerto Rican neighborhood for half of my childhood), I felt a hundred emotions at once.
I felt pride in my Caribbean culture and in that of my neighboring brothers and sisters. I felt uplifted by the many references to Afro-Latino culture. I screamed when I saw the flag of my maternal family!
My brain buzzed with ideas about how this living cultural artifact—the performance—could be instrumental in exciting students and educating them about the cultures of marginalized and oppressed communities. Finally, I was overwhelmed with joy seeing the many flags that paraded across the field. Whether French-speaking or English-speaking, flags from across the Americas flew proudly—a beautiful recognition that we are more alike than we are different, and a reminder of how far-reaching the diaspora truly is.
Why should you highlight Benito’s Half-Time Show in your classroom?
The halftime performance is a brilliant example of living, breathing culture in action. It is relevant. It is timely. It is something that excites most students. It is something that has had and still has a lot of buzz! And most of all, it was rich with cultural symbolism and artifacts that are important for our students to learn about. I say this often to my students: You can’t truly learn the Spanish language unless you invest in learning about the many cultures & peoples who speak the language.
Let’s Break It Down: 4 Classroom-Ready Cultural Moments
What makes this performance so powerful is that it tells a story—one that moves from history → culture → identity → voice. Here’s how to bring that directly into your classroom.
Moment #1: The Power of the Sugarcane Fields References
What unites much of the Caribbean? The sugarcane crop.
This moment in the performance points to one of the most important historical throughlines in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean: plantation economies built on enslaved African labor. Sugarcane fields were not just agricultural spaces—they were sites of exploitation, resistance, and cultural formation.
Across Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, sugar production shaped racial hierarchies, migration patterns, and even language. The forced movement of African peoples into the Caribbean created spaces of linguistic and cultural contact, where African traditions blended with Spanish and Indigenous influences. These intersections are still present today in the rhythms, foods, belief systems, and linguistic patterns we see across the region.
Scholars such as Sidney Mintz have emphasized the central role of sugar in shaping Caribbean societies, arguing that sugar production was foundational not only to economic systems but also to identity and culture (Mintz, Sweetness and Power, 1985).
👩🏽🏫 Classroom application
Use this moment to ground students in the historical context before moving into modern culture.
Try this:
- Show a short clip or still image from the performance.
- Pair it with an image or short reading on sugarcane production.
- Ask interpretive questions:
- ¿Qué ves?
- ¿Qué notas?
- ¿Quién trabajaba en estos campos?
- Guide students to connect past → present (history → culture).
Optional extension:
- Have students create a quick connection map:
azúcar → esclavitud → cultura → música - Give context for the significance of sugarcane fields
Moment #2: Afro-Latino Music, Movement, and Cultural Continuity
The story does not stop with the fields. What emerged from these histories is culture—rhythm, movement, and expression that continues to evolve today.
Bad Bunny’s performance draws on a range of Afro-Caribbean musical traditions, including elements that echo bomba and plena from Puerto Rico, as well as broader African diasporic rhythmic patterns. These musical forms are not simply aesthetic; they are deeply rooted in histories of resistance, community, and identity.
Music in the Caribbean has long served as a space for storytelling and preservation. Through rhythm and movement, communities maintained connections to African heritage even under systems that sought to erase those identities. Over time, these traditions evolved and blended, contributing to contemporary genres such as reggaetón.
As scholars note, Latin American music cannot be fully understood without acknowledging the contributions of the African diaspora (Peña, The Latin American Music Reader, 2002).
👩🏽🏫 Classroom application
This moment is perfect for helping students hear culture in action.
Try this:
- Play a short clip from the halftime performance.
- Play a short clip of traditional bomba or plena.
- Ask students:
- ¿Qué similitudes escuchas?
- ¿Qué instrumentos reconoces?
- ¿Cómo se siente la música?
- Discuss where these sounds come from historically.
Optional extension:
- Have students create a simple timeline or flow:
África → Caribe → reggaetón - Check out the below resources, including my TpT lesson: Afro-Latino Webquest, to explore Afro-Latino culture
Moment #3: The Flags and the Interconnected Americas
One of the most visually striking elements of the performance was the presence of multiple flags representing countries across the Americas.
This moment serves as a powerful reminder that Spanish is not tied to a single culture or identity. Instead, it exists across a wide and diverse set of communities, each with its own histories, traditions, and perspectives. At the same time, these communities are deeply interconnected through shared experiences of colonization, migration, and cultural exchange.
The inclusion of multiple flags highlights the idea of a broader diasporic identity—one that transcends national borders while still honoring local specificity. Scholars often refer to this as transnational or pan-Latino identity, emphasizing the ways in which culture moves across spaces and is continually reshaped (Flores & Benmayor, Latino Cultural Citizenship, 1997).
👩🏽🏫 Classroom application
This moment helps students see Spanish as a global and diverse language.
Try this:
- Set up a gallery walk with different country flags.
- Include quick facts or visuals for each country.
- Have students rotate and respond:
- ¿Qué tienen en común estos países?
- ¿Qué es diferente?
- ¿Cómo están conectados?
Optional extension:
- Exit ticket:
- Somos más parecidos que diferentes porque…
Moment #4: Lo Que Pasó en Hawaii, Ricky Martin, and Puerto Rico Beyond the Headlines
Another significant layer of the performance comes through references to “Lo Que Pasó en Hawaii” and the broader cultural lineage represented by Ricky Martin.
At first glance, this may appear to be a musical or nostalgic reference. However, it opens the door to a deeper conversation about Puerto Rico’s representation in global media and the evolving role of artists in shaping that narrative.
Puerto Rico occupies a complex position politically and culturally. Its relationship with the United States, its history of colonialism, and its global visibility through music all contribute to how it is perceived—and often misunderstood. Artists like Bad Bunny have used their platforms to speak more directly about these realities, including the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and ongoing conversations around identity, migration, and political status.
In contrast, Ricky Martin represents an earlier era of global recognition for Puerto Rican artists—one that centered visibility and crossover success. Together, these references highlight a shift from representation to self-representation, where artists are not only seen, but heard on their own terms.
👩🏽🏫 Classroom application
This moment supports deeper thinking around media, identity, and voice.
Try this:
- Provide a short lyric, clip, or summary of “Lo Que Pasó en Hawaii.”
- Ask students:
- ¿De qué trata el mensaje?
- ¿Qué quiere comunicar Bad Bunny?
- ¿Cómo representa Puerto Rico?
- Provide brief context (in English or Spanish) about Puerto Rico’s political status.
Optional extension:
- Compare eras:
- Ricky Martin → global visibility
- Bad Bunny → cultural + political voice
- Reflection:
- ¿Cómo ha cambiado la representación de Puerto Rico?
💫 Conclusion: Why This Moment Still Matters
Bad Bunny’s halftime show wasn’t just entertainment—it was a cultural text. A living, breathing artifact that brought history, identity, and expression onto one of the largest stages in the world.
What makes this moment so powerful for the classroom is not just its popularity, but its depth. Within a single performance, students can explore the historical roots of the Caribbean, the cultural continuity of Afro-Latino traditions, the interconnectedness of the Americas, and the evolving voice of Puerto Rico in global conversations.
This is the kind of content that reminds us why culture must remain at the center of language teaching.
Because when students engage with moments like this, they are not just learning vocabulary or grammar. They are making connections. They are asking questions. They are beginning to understand the people and histories behind the language.
And that is where real learning happens.
