The Super Bowl stage has consistently seen some of the most iconic moments in music. There’s a reason that some of the most prolific artists in music history all claw at the chance to perform the show for free. The 15-minute show is a golden ticket for artists to be etched into an exclusive club of notoriety forever.

The halftime show has always been miles grander than your average concert. It’s a spectacle where roughly 100 million viewers tune in every year and, consequently, an opportunity for artists to put out creative visions that a third of the country will tune into.

More recently, the shows have been an opportunity for artists to perform with politically charged undertones that get people talking, with Kendrick Lamar’s bold usage of Samuel Jackson as “Uncle Tom” and alluding to a “revolution” in front of the sitting president last year being a recent example.

It’s a program that courts extreme amounts of attention, and by association, controversy. Nevertheless, even in a tradition that has made its legacy off of the intense drama and discourse it brings, 2026’s Super Bowl performance might somehow be its crown jewel.

On Sept. 28, the NFL and Apple Music announced that Bad Bunny would be headlining this year’s program in San Francisco, meaning he would become the first artist ever to perform the show entirely in Spanish — a decision that sparked an immense amount of conversation.

The current political landscape of the country is no secret to anybody. Since the beginning of the year, headlines detailing the Trump administration-initiated raids from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement have dominated news networks.

In an era where “anti-wokeness” is constantly preached from the country’s most powerful figures, opportunities for free expression of culture have been especially limited, with the Latine community being a primary target.

Many — primarily conservative — football fans are upset that this year’s halftime show is by an artist whose songs are almost entirely in Spanish. Infamously, conservative political organization Turning Point USA has even gone as far as to create its own alternative halftime show for Super Bowl 2025, featuring Jason Aldean.

However, while Bad Bunny and, by extension, reggaeton, have been exposed to racist outrage, the extensive exposure has also brought new listeners to Latin music.

For nearly every person pouting in prejudice, there’s someone else who’s being exposed to his discography or Latin music as a genre for the first time.

Countless people, many of whom are not Spanish speakers, have posted Tiktok, X and Reels content about their experience being exposed to Bad Bunny’s music for the first time, and are relaying their excitement for the show.

I’m on the positive side of the conversation that is thrilled for his performance. I’ve been casually listening to Benito’s music for a while, and his recent album, “DeBí TiRAR MáS FOToS,” will probably be one of my top three albums of the year. However, outside of that album, and some of his most mainstream club hits like “Tití Me Preguntó,” “DÁKITI,” and “MIA (feat. Drake),” my knowledge of the Puerto Rican superstar was somewhat limited.

But following his latest album, and his aforementioned Super Bowl Halftime Show Performance announcement, I’ve been tapped in like never before — not just to Bad Bunny, but to all of reggaeton and Latin music as a whole.

I’ve been listening to Latin music for the majority of the past week. Artists that I’ve already liked, such as Maluma, Kali Uchis and Bad Bunny himself have seen substantially increased runtime in my playlists. For artists whose work I’ve been vaguely familiar with but not intimately acquainted with, such as Peso Pluma and KAROL G, I’ve begun taking baby steps into their discographies.

This sense of celebration comes during a time when it feels as if, more than ever, Latine culture as a whole has been persistently under attack.

Bad Bunny is the second-highest streamed artist of all time on Spotify and has also sold out arenas in America in the past. He still elected to skip out on the United States entirely on his recent “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS Tour” out of fear that ICE could target his shows.

However, during a time that’s been mired by cultural conversations that have revolved around anxiety, pessimism and hate, we’re seeing a moment of triumph.

In Bad Bunny’s recent “Saturday Night Live” monologue, which has gone viral on social media, the Puerto Rican performed a significant portion of his speech in Spanish, where he joked that “everyone is happy” about his show.

After his quip, he directed a message to the non-Spanish speakers in the crowd, saying, “If you didn’t understand me, you have four months to learn.”

Now, everyone in America — even those who still pretend that they would actually watch Lara Trump sing instead in protest — is going to have to sit down, watch and learn, whether they like it or not.

Kailen Hicks is a junior writing about current trends, conflicts and discourse around music in his column “Noteworthy Noise,” which runs every other Wednesday.