"That's how Bad Bunny jokingly closed his Saturday Night Live monologue in October, after delivering a moving message in Spanish that, for millions of Spanish speakers in the United States, needed no translation. Earlier, he called his upcoming Super Bowl performance "an achievement for all of us" in English, then switched to Spanish to thank "all the Latinos and Latinas ... who have worked to open doors.""
"For decades, English has functioned as the gatekeeper of global music charts, defining what counts as mainstream. In recent years, however, songs in Spanish by Latin artists like Shakira, Karol G and Bad Bunny have topped those same charts. Remarkably, Bad Bunny remains the only major artist to reach this level of popularity while singing exclusively in Spanish. On Sunday, he will be the first Latin artist to perform an entirely non-English halftime show at the Super Bowl."
"That choice is especially meaningful given the country's linguistic reality. Spanish is the most widely spoken non-English language in U.S. households, and more than 1 in 5 Americans age 5 and older regularly speak a language other than English. Yet, singing in languages other than English is still often seen as unworthy of mainstream U.S. stages. The backlash to Bad Bunny's selection exposes lingering discomfort among some politicians, commentators and media outlets toward non-English music performances."
Bad Bunny delivered a bilingual SNL monologue, closing with a quip telling non-Spanish speakers they had "four months to learn," and thanked Latinos and Latinas in Spanish while naming their contributions "huella." Spanish-language songs by artists like Shakira, Karol G and Bad Bunny have begun topping global charts, and Bad Bunny uniquely achieved major popularity while singing exclusively in Spanish. He will perform an entirely non-English Super Bowl halftime show. Spanish is widely spoken in U.S. households, yet non-English performances still face backlash and reveal lingering discomfort with non-English music on mainstream U.S. stages.
Read at The Mercury News
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