Sunday night time, throughout a reasonably enjoyable Packers/Cowboys recreation that in the end blue-balled those that stayed for the top, the NFL, Apple Music, and Roc Nation introduced the following Tremendous Bowl halftime performer: Latin hip-hop celebrity and Completely satisfied Gilmore caddy Dangerous Bunny. And but, regardless of it making fairly a little bit of sense on paper, the choice shortly sparked bizarre political discourse, due to course it did. Right here’s the factor that dialog misunderstands — the Nationwide Soccer League and its companions’ alternative wasn’t motivated by politics; it was motivated by the almighty greenback.
For the few whose social media timelines haven’t but fully deteriorated, MAGA has had a less-than-enthused response to the announcement. (Or, as one Fox Information article put it, “the selection didn’t precisely sit nicely with NFL followers,” although, to our eyes, the blowback appears to be coming from a really particular subset of the league’s viewers.) Within the wake of the information, blue checkmarks and Fact Social customers have railed towards “Barack Obama’s finest pal” Jay-Z for giving Dangerous Bunny the gig, claimed he’s irrelevant (extra on that later), and shared memes that categorical their disapproval.
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Why such a dramatic response? Nicely, after remaining roughly apolitical on points that don’t straight impression his native Puerto Rico, Dangerous Bunny formally endorsed Kamala Harris throughout her 2024 presidential marketing campaign following Tony Hinchcliffe’s notorious “floating island of rubbish” joke. Since then, the rapper has taken subject with the conduct of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), particularly avoiding the continental United States on his “Debi Tirar Mas Fotos World Tour” out of worry that ICE would conduct raids exterior of his exhibits.
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“These motherfuckers are in these vehicles, RAV-4s,” he stated earlier this 12 months, reacting to footage of legislation enforcement officers seemingly detaining individuals whereas utilizing unmarked automobiles on Avenida Pontezuela in Carolina, Puerto Rico. “They got here right here… Sons of bitches, as an alternative of leaving the individuals alone and dealing there.”
He stays far much less of an expressly political determine than, say, Bruce Springsteen or final 12 months’s halftime headliner Kendrick Lamar. Nonetheless, the opinions have been sufficient to mark him with the signal of woke for MAGA, who’ve broadly categorized the NFL’s transfer as diversity-driven and as a slight towards the Donald Trump administration. In actuality, nonetheless, the choose appears a lot much less influenced by Trump and his insurance policies and way more influenced by the NFL’s aggressive worldwide growth.
As a result of, whereas some anglophones may not understand it, Dangerous Bunny is monstrously well-known. The Puerto Rican rapper was the most-streamed artist on Spotify from 2020-2022 (he’s remained throughout the high 5 within the years since), had the primary Spanish-language album to high the Billboard 200 with El Último Tour Del Mundo, and expanded his most up-to-date tour (the one which skipped America) from 24 dates to 57. All of the whereas, he’s managed to climb to such a industrial peak whereas remaining a vital favourite (even nabbing some excessive spots on earlier year-end lists from Consequence). He has a official declare to the title of “one of many greatest artists on the earth,” and it’s these final three phrases, “on the earth,” that the NFL is banking on.