Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is best known for his 2018 hit “I Like It” with Cardi B and J Balvin, “Dakiti,” a 2020 song with more than 2 billion Spotify streams, and “Tití Me Preguntó,” a top five most-streamed track on Spotify in 2022.

“What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” Bad Bunny said in an NFL statement, paying tribute to the greats of Latin music that never got the opportunity, as announced on “Sunday Night Football” by Apple Music. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown … this is for my people, my culture, and our history.”

How Bad Bunny rose to fame

Although Bad Bunny is reportedly worth about $50 million and he’s considered one of the most influential Latin-trap artists of his generation, a distinctive type of rap music with a deep bass sound, he came from humble beginnings. Some even call him “the King of Latin Trap.”

He grew up in the Almirante Sur neighborhood of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, and was raised in a lower middle-class household; his father was a truck driver and his mother was an English teacher. He grew up going to Catholic church, where he sang in the choir until he was 13.

As a college student at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, he worked in a supermarket in Vega Baja and in his off time began sharing his music on SoundCloud, the world’s largest audio platform for independent artists to upload, promote, and share music. (Other major artists like Chance the Rapper, Post Malone, and Billie Eilish also got their start on SoundCloud.)

In 2016, Bad Bunny’s song “Diles” took off with hundreds of millions of streams, and he soon had producers calling. In fact, he had to take their calls while working at the grocery store. (By now, “Diles” has amassed more than 1 billion streams.) Bad Bunny signed with Rimas Entertainment, run by Noah Assad, a producer who supports and promotes Latin talent. Bad Bunny even got to present Assad with the Billboard Executive of the Year Award in 2023.

“We are from the same place. We are from a small, very small island in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico,” Bad Bunny said during the presentation speech, the first one he gave fully in English. “We have a huge music culture. We have a beautiful music history and I’m very proud to spread to the world our music, our culture, together.”

Bad Bunny’s fame was growing ever more mainstream in the years before his Super Bowl anointment. He is also now an actor, having recently appeared in Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing, and he was part of the parade of all-stars who performed in the 50th anniversary show for Saturday Night Live, when he led a traditional salsa big band, paying tribute to the Latin music greats of the 1970s and ‘80s.

Bad Bunny’s deep connection to Puerto Rico

After earning his fame and fortune, Bad Bunny remains deeply engaged with and connected to Puerto Rico. 

His most recent album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” addresses social issues affecting Puerto Rico such as gentrification, over-tourism, economic struggles, and tensions between locals and visitors. 

He also launched a 10-week residency show in San Juan called “No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí,” which translates to “I don’t want to leave here,” which also spotlights local talents, artisans, and nonprofits focused on sustainability and preservation. The residency generated $400 million for Puerto Rico’s economy, according to Wells Fargo estimates.

“The fact that he decided to do this in Puerto Rico, to have a residency in Puerto Rico, something which was never done before, shows the care and the love he feels for the island,” a Bad Bunny fan Gabriel Acevedo told Reuters during the residency opener on July 11.

Bad Bunny has also been outspoken about Puerto Rico’s political status and lived realities, vocally supporting the island’s independence and sovereignty. 

“I know there are a lot of people from outside of the island who don’t know basic things about our country,” he told Huck magazine in a February interview. “When tourists visit Puerto Rico, they see the best sights, the dance, the food. They leave, and they don’t find out, or deal with, the problems that the country suffers with.”

Bad Bunny is so dedicated to Puerto Rico and Latin culture, in fact, he decided to leave the U.S. off of his 2025-2026 tour due to concerns about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could be at concert venues.

“People from the U.S. could come here to see the show. Latinos and Puerto Ricans of the United States could also travel here, or to any part of the world,” he recently told i-D magazine. “There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the US, and none of them were out of hate.”

“I’ve performed [in the U.S.] many times,” he added. “I’ve enjoyed connecting with Latinos who have been living in the United States.”