Kid Rock Lip-Synced to an Empty Room While Bad Bunny Taught 130 Million People About Colonialism

On Sunday, Bad Bunny delivered the first entirely Spanish-language Super Bowl halftime show in history, and predictably, the far-right lost its collective mind. Conservative pundits called the performance "too woke" before a single note played. Some commentators questioned whether a Puerto Rican artist was even "American enough" to headline the biggest stage in the country.

They're losing the culture war, and the reaction proved it. Bad Bunny's Spotify streams spiked 470 percent in the U.S. after the performance.

Turning Point USA’s alternative halftime show featured Kid Rock delivering what Rolling Stone described as a “half-assed lip-synch” to a crowd that seemed more interested in owning the libs than enjoying live music. Meanwhile, Bad Bunny packed a 13-minute set with world-class choreography, Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, a real wedding ceremony, and a visual narrative spanning centuries of Caribbean history.

But the far-right's meltdown isn't the real story here. What's far more revealing is what happened with everyone else. Specifically, I want to discuss the high number of moderates and center-right viewers who came away praising Bad Bunny because he supposedly “kept politics out of it.” They just saw a guy who loves Puerto Rico putting on a hell of a performance. Nothing controversial.

That misreading is part of how he’s winning. Bad Bunny smuggled radical critique into the center of the most corporate, flag-waving American event of the year. He delivered a 13-minute history lesson on colonialism, gentrification, and resistance to 130 million people, and most of them thought they were just watching a good show. A huge chunk of the audience literally thanked him for being neutral.

But we can keep this our little secret. Let them stream “El Apagón” without Googling the lyrics. Let them think the light blue flag was just an aesthetic choice. Here’s the context they missed, and the six most political things Bad Bunny did on Sunday night.

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1. He Opened in the Sugar