Don’t tell Donald Trump, but Bad Bunny is on a roll. In spite of the president claiming earlier this year that he’d “never heard” of the trailblazing 31-year-old, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, he is beyond doubt one of the world's most successful stars... and he's only getting bigger. Today, the Puerto Rican star made Grammys history by becoming the first Spanish-language artist ever to be simultaneously nominated in the ceremony’s three major categories: Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year.
The awards ceremony will take place next year on February 1, just a week before Ocasio headlines the Super Bowl Halftime Show on February 8. He is the first solo male Latin artist to perform in the high-profile slot, and is widely expected to become the first to perform a halftime set entirely in Spanish. Last month, Ocasio hosted Saturday Night Live and told the audience in Spanish that his performance would be for “all Latinos and Latinas across the world, and here in the United States, all the people who have worked to open doors... More than an achievement of mine, it’s an achievement of everyone.” He then joked in English: “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn!”
It was the announcement of Ocasio as Super Bowl performer that provoked President Trump to weigh in on the Latin artist’s burgeoning career, branding the NFL’s decision to recruit him “crazy” and “ridiculous”. That was among the more measured responses from right-wing commentators and politicians, with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green expressing concern about the potential for “demonic sexual performances” at the Super Bowl. Some Republicans went so far as to campaign for Ocasio to be replaced by Christian rock act Creed. Thankfully, the NFL gave these appeals the short shrift they deserved; commissioner Roger Goodell said the decision to book Ocasio had been “carefully thought through.”
“We're confident it's going to be a great show. He understands the platform that he's on, and I think it's going to be exciting and a united moment,” added Goodell. “He's one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world. That's what we try to achieve. It’s an important stage for us.”
It will undoubtedly prove an important stage for Ocasio too, even as his performance remains a political flashpoint. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has threatened to station ICE agents at the Super Bowl to catch anyone who is not a "law-abiding American who love[s] this country", although this feels more theatrical than genuinely targeted. As Michael Che joked of Noem’s threat on SNL: “You know, to catch all those farm workers who can afford Super Bowl tickets.” Ocasio has previously stated that concerns about the presence of ICE factored into his decision not to tour the United States and instead to play a residency in Puerto Rico. “There was the issue of — like, f***ing ICE could be outside [my concert],” he said. “And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
None of this furore, though, has done anything to detract from the rightful acclaim heaped on Ocasio’s wildly popular recent sixth album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos (I Should Have Taken More Photos). Since being released at the start of January, the record has become, for many, a soundtrack for the year thanks to its potent blend of salsa, plena and reggaetón, along with contemplative lyrics reckoning with the passage of time and the fate of Ocasio’s island home. It topped the charts in the United States and, in September, became the first album released this year to reach seven billion streams on Spotify.
It’s no surprise then that the album has proved popular with the Recording Academy, picking up a grand total of six nominations. Ocasio is no stranger to setting new precedents at the Grammys: three years ago, his fourth album Un Verano Sin Ti (A Summer Without You) became the first ever Spanish-language album to earn a nomination for Album of the Year. Debí Tirar Más Fotos is just the second.
Debí Tirar Más Fotos seems tied to an even grander social narrative that its predecessor. When it was first released, Trump’s second presidential election victory was fresh in the collective memory and he was still weeks away from being inaugurated once again. The record bursts into life with the defiant opening track “NUEVAYoL”, a vibrant song that interpolates El Gran Combo’s 1975 salsa hit “Un Verano en Nueva York”, making for an irresistible tribute to the city’s Dominican diaspora. By the time it was nominated for a Grammy, New Yorkers were celebrating the election of a young, progressive mayor who ran his campaign in direct opposition to Trump’s mandate. In some ways, at least, the times really do seem to be changing.
Whether or not Ocasio walks out at the Super Bowl next year having shattered a few more Grammys records remains to be seen. One thing’s for certain though: Trump had better start brushing up on his Spanish.
