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Bad Bunny Is Playing the Super Bowl Halftime Show: Can We All Just Shut Up and Dance?

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I’m going to wager that no other Super Bowl Halftime Show artist in history has garnered as much chatter, opinion, controversy or opinion pieces as Bad Bunny, who will perform on Sunday (Feb. 8) at the final between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots in Santa Clara, California.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 21: Bad Bunny attends Netflix's "Happy Gilmore 2" New York Premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center on July 21, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by TheStewartofNY/Getty Images)

Let’s Stop Pretending Politics Is the Reason People Are Angry About Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Set

Bad Bunny performs onstage during Night One of Bad Bunny: "No Me Quiero Ir De Aqui" Residencia En El Choli at Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot on July 11, 2025 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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Every media outlet in the country seems to have a point of view: Is his performance a political statement? A cultural statement? An act of defiance? An act of disrespect toward this most venerable American sports tradition? A Latino power move? A Puerto Rican power move? In the past few weeks, I’ve received dozens of emails offering the opinion of industry leaders, hospitality executives, CEOs, entertainment figures, data companies and, in a twist, countless Latino and Puerto Rican university professors and PhDs touted as sage talking heads.

The opinions on Bad Bunny tend to fly fast and furious or high and lofty. In my entire time covering Latin music, I’ve never encountered such a plethora of “experts”  on any artist, much less one that most have almost certainly never met, much less interviewed (shout out, however, to professors Vanessa Díaz and Petra R. Rivera-Rideau, who authored the excellent P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance (Duke University Press).

I’ve also never encountered such a highly-politicized halftime performance, despite the artists’ attempts to not make it political.  

 “I’m just a normal guy that makes music,” Bunny said in an interview Friday with Access Hollywood’s Scott Evans. “I want people to feel happiness and joy. I want to make people dance. I want to make them feel proud and think that everything is possible.”

As transparent as that statement is, pundits are stuck on the fact that last summer, in an interview with i-D Magazine, Bunny said he wasn’t touring the U.S. for now because he had done so in the past, but that the possibility of ICE agents targeting his fans was a factor.

“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the U.S., and none of them were out of hate — I’ve performed there many times. All of [the shows] have been successful. All of them have been magnificent.” He added, “But there was the issue of — like, f—king Ice could be outside [my concert].”

Is that really a political statement? Last week’s NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found that 65% of Americans — that’s two-thirds of the country — say Immigration and Customs Enforcement has “gone too far,” an 11 point increase since last summer, when Bunny first mentioned the agency. In other words, the Puerto Rican star voiced what the majority of the country feels.

When Bunny picked up his Grammy award for album of the year this past Sunday (making history with the first all Spanish album to win the category), he gave a beautiful acceptance speech focused on pride and Puerto Rico, and punctuated at the very end with an “ICE out.” Again, is that really a political statement, in the wake of the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota at the hands of ICE?

No. It’s common sense and decency.

Beyond that, however, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Bad Bunny’s upcoming performance has many up in arms because he will sing only in Spanish, the language he’s always performed in and the language that’s made him the most-streamed music artist in the world on Spotify. And yet, in this country, many still see Spanish — which is also my native tongue — as the language of poor immigrants, of foreigners, of less-than.

Bad Bunny’s popularity does not stem from politics. It comes from making catchy, hooky, well-crafted songs that stem from a place of honesty and consistency in message that appeal to the masses, regardless of language and regardless of origin. In fact, when he recorded Debí Tirar Más Fotos, the album that propelled him to the Super Bowl and to his historic Grammy win, he wasn’t aiming for international recognition.

“I said, ‘I’m going to make an album from Puerto Rico, for Puerto Ricans,” he told me during an interview in August. “I didn’t think it would transcend so much. I genuinely didn’t care if this album was heard in this country or that country. I was happy to have it be successful in Puerto Rico.”

But with its irresistible beats, punctuated by traditional Puerto Rican rhythms and instrumentation, Debí Tirar struck a chord, becoming a global invitation to dance and celebrate. What else could be more in keeping with the spirit of the Super Bowl?

On Sunday, when Bad Bunny takes the stage, let’s stop for 30 minutes with the sermons and the politics and the lofty opinions. Let’s just shut up and dance.

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NFL Player Keion White Shot Following Alleged Argument With Lil Baby at a Nightclub

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NFL player Keion White was shot early Monday (Feb. 9) following an alleged argument with Lil Baby at a San Francisco nightclub.

According to ABC7, White was shot in the ankle at Dahlia’s, where the 49ers defensive lineman was hosting a Super Bowl party.

SFPD responded to calls for gunshots around 4 a.m. PT on Monday, according to ABC7. The San Francisco Standard viewed the police report, which, according to the publication, said a witness told law enforcement that White got into an argument with Baby as the rapper and his entourage tried to enter the private event, and was then shot, hours after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.

Billboard has reached out to reps for Lil Baby and the SFPD for comment.

“Any violent incident in our city is unacceptable, and I’m hoping Keion recovers quickly. I’ve spoken with SFPD and 49ers leadership — we are all grateful to our SFPD officers for their quick response,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said on X. “As always, I will continue working with San Francisco law enforcement to ensure our neighborhoods and our residents are safe.”

According to the San Francisco 49ers, White underwent successful surgery on his ankle and the injuries are not expected to be “career-threatening.”

“A preliminary investigation revealed a verbal altercation occurred between two groups inside a business,” San Francisco police said in a statement, per ESPN. “The victim was injured when shots were fired by an unknown suspect.”

No arrests have been made yet, and no suspects have been named by the San Francisco Police Department.

Lil Baby was spotted attending Super Bowl LX with his son, Jason. On the music side, Baby has already notched collabs with Tkandz as well as Veeze and Rylo Rodriguez in 2026. The Atlanta rapper’s “Mrs. Trendsetter” held at No. 89 on last week’s Billboard Hot 100.

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Don Toliver Scores His First No. 1 Hit on Hot Rap Songs Chart

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Don Toliver’s busy week across Billboard’s charts includes the rapper-singer’s first No. 1 hit on the Hot Rap Songs list, as “Body” debuts atop the ranking dated Feb. 7. The new champ, on Donnway & Co./Cactus Jack/Atlantic Records, captains his collection of 17 tracks this week’s chart. They’re all from his new album, Octane, which storms in at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart with 162,000 equivalent album units.

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The 17-track parade marks the most cuts that Don Toliver has posted on the Hot Rap Songs chart in a single week, and makes him only the sixth artist to claim 17 or more simultaneous appearances. He joins Drake, who has done it twice, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, Playboi Carti and Travis Scott in the chart’s 34-year history.

“Body” owes its coronation on the multimetric Hot Rap Songs chart, a weighted combination of streaming, radio airplay and sales data in the United States, almost entirely to 14.3 million official on-demand streams for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5, according to Luminate. Thanks to that sum, it sparks a No. 1 debut on the Rap Streaming Songs chart. In the remaining categories, “Body” had 106,000 radio audience impressions and a negligible amount of song downloads.

With “Body,” Don Toliver achieves his first Hot Rap Songs No. 1 after 30 prior appearances. The performer previously peaked twice at No. 3 through featured roles: He and NAV guested on Internet Money and Gunna’s “Lemonade,” which reached the bronze in November 2020, while his and Future’s supporting turns on Metro Boomin’s “Too Many Nights” led to the same prize in December 2022. As a lead artist, his own “Tiramisu” set his previous career high of No. 6 in September 2025.

Similarly, “Body” leads Don Toliver’s ledger on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (No. 3) and the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 (No. 14).

With “Body” on top, here’s a recap of all 17 Don Toliver tracks on Hot Rap Songs. Among them, 15 are debuts, while “ATM” and “Tiramisu” nab their second and third weeks, respectively.

  • No. 1, “Body”
  • No. 2, “E85”
  • No. 4, “ATM”
  • No. 5, “Secondhand,” feat. Rema
  • No. 6, “Rendezvous,” feat. Yeat
  • No. 8, “Tiramisu”
  • No. 9, “Rosary,” feat. Travis Scott
  • No. 10, “Call Back”
  • No. 11, “Gemstone”
  • No. 12, “Excavator”
  • No. 13, “Opposite”
  • No. 17, “All the Signs,” feat. Teezo Touchdown
  • No. 18, “Tuition”
  • No. 19, “K9,” feat. SahBabii
  • No. 22, “TMU”
  • No. 24, “Sweet Home”
  • No. 25, “Pleasure’s Mine”

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Baby Keem Announces ‘Ca$ino’ Album Release Date & Previews Kendrick Lamar Collaboration

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Baby Keem is back. Keem announced plans for his upcoming album, Ca$ino, on Tuesday (Feb. 10), and the sophomore LP is slated to arrive on Feb. 20.

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“Ca$ino Feb 20, 2026 Limited Edition Vinyl Available Now,” Keem wrote on Instagram. The 25-year-old revealed the LP’s cover art, which features a photo of a young Baby Keem with the parental advisory sticker.

Ca$ino boasts 12 tracks, including collaborations with his cousin Kendrick Lamar, Too Short, Momo Boys and Che Ecru.

With the four-plus-year layoff, fans are anticipating Keem’s return. “Took your time bro this better be a classic,” one person commented. Another added: “USED TO PRAY FOR TIMES LIKE THIS!”

Keem also released a Ca$ino documentary on YouTube to accompany the announcement. The Booman I doc features appearances from plenty of Keem’s family members describing his upbringing, including an appearance from Kendrick. “I understand the hardships before he was born. Knowing his mom, that’s my first cousin,” he said. “I already knew what she was going through, just the history of our family in general. We don’t call ourselves the hillbillies for nothing.”

Lamar continued: “Section 8, welfare … This is a story of a warfare environment and a warfare psychologically trying to change our generational curses.”

There’s also footage of Keem in the studio working on his collab with Lamar, “Good Flirts.” “Walking in the party, I don’t feel nobody/ What the f—k,” K. Dot raps on the hard-hitting track. “Is it fake, is it love, probably/ I smell something.”

Baby Keem’s debut album, The Melodic Blue, arrived in September 2021 and debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. He released a deluxe for the LP in October 2022 featuring Lil Uzi Vert and PinkPantheress.

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