The Super Bowl halftime show featured electrifying performances by world-famous artists Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, but they were also joined by a man in a silver suit rapping in Spanish who may not be as familiar to many American viewers. While it only lasts around 20 minutes, The Super Bowl halftime show is one of the biggest performances every year, reaching some of the highest ratings of the entire year on television.
It’s been known since September that J.Lo and Shakira would be headlining the show, but due to the high production nature of the Super Bowl halftime show, it’s common for a number of guest performers to make surprise appearances, as was the case this year. As Shakira was performing, a Spanish rapper joined her on the stage wearing a full silver suit including a silver durag and silver trenchcoat, prompting confusion as many Americans asked on Twitter “who’s that guy in the silver suit?”
While he might not be recognizable to many Americans the silver suited Spanish rapper is actually Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, AKA Bad Bunny. The Puerto Rican performer is actually quite well known, having racked up over four billion views on YouTube, he was featured on Cardi B’s “I Like It,” Which reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for the Grammy’s for Record of the Year in 2019, and he was nominated for two Grammy’s in 2020 for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album for collaboration with J Balvin, “Oasis”, as well as his own solo album, X100PRE, in 2020.
Bad Bunny performed Cardi B’s “I Like It” with Shakira before performing his own “MIA”, but his “Oasis” collaborator J Balvin also came out on stage to join J.Lo for “Mi Gente” and “Love Don’t Cost a Thing.” Bad Bunny and J Balvin are both credited as part of the rising popularity of reggaeton and Bad Bunny has been referred to as a pioneer of latin trap music.
While both Bad Bunny and J Balvin are well known in their own circles, Shakira and J.Lo bringing them on stage during the halftime show is sure to raise their exposure dramatically with English speaking American audiences, who are just now learning about the performers for the first time.
