You could say February has been busy for Jorell Meléndez-Badillo. A CLS affiliate faculty member, Prof. Meléndez-Badillo recently made headlines by contributing historical vignettes to the superstar Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny’s recent album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” (translated as “I Should Have Taken More Pictures”). When Bad Bunny was tapped to perform the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, numerous media outlets turned to Meléndez-Badillo as they sought to anlayze the performance and the conversations it has sparked. In a February 5th op-ed of his own, Meléndez-Badillo noted that the performance shines a light on the second-class status of Puerto Ricans and the ongoing colonial history of the archipelago. He relates that after the release of DTMF, he has had “countless conversations with journalists from around the globe, who marveled at how little they knew about Puerto Rico’s history or its relationship to the United States.” This sort of history lesson appears to be exactly what the singer was going for, and the half time show, by all accounts, continued that lesson. Below are a few examples of Prof. Meléndez-Badillo’s recent media interventions. Note that some links may require registration or payment.
VIDEO
- “Bad Bunny’s History with Politics,” CNN
- “Does Bad Bunny’s halftime show mean mean more than music?” NBC Bay Area, February 6, 2026
WRITTEN FEATURES AND INTERVIEWS
- Ambar Colón, “Bad Bunny’s hottest local Super Bowl pregame is at the Chicago Public Library,” Chicago Sun-Times, February 3, 2026
- Lisa Respers France, “Bad Bunny does not need the NFL as much as the NFL needs him,” CNN, February 5, 2026
- Alisa Rosenbloom and Lisa Respers France, “Super Bowl halftime performers that went political way before Bad Bunny,” CNN, February 6, 2026
- Lauren Gambino, “Bad Bunny to meet political moment as MAGA fumes over Super Bowl show,” The Guardian, February 8, 2026
- “Chicago Public Library uses Bad Bunny videos to teach Puerto Rican History,” CBS News, February 6, 2026
- Patricia Mazzei and Laura N. Pérez Sánchez, “Bad Bunny gives voice to the crisis generation,” New York Times, February 8, 2026
- Matt Craig, “Why Bad Bunny won’t get paid for the Super Bowl halftime show,” Forbes, January 30, 2026
- Marissa Martínez, “Bad Bunny is taking over the US. Does he want Puerto Rico to leave it?” Vox, February 6, 2026
- Fannie Arcand, “Bad Bunny le provocateur,” La Presse (Canada), February 7, 2026
- Maggy Donaldson, “Bad Bunny: The Puerto Rican Phenom on Top of the Music World,” Barron’s, February 2, 2026
- Thomas Broggini, “Anti-Trump et auteur de chansons engages: pourquoi Bad Bunny, l’artiste le plus streamé du monde, va a lui seul eclipser le Super Bowl,” L’equipe (France), February 5, 2026
- Damaris Hernández Mercado, “Los seis poderosos mensajes de Bad Bunny en el Super Bowl,” El Nuevo Día (Puerto Rico), February 10, 2026, print version (no link)
AUDIO
- “Multiple Puerto Ricos,” Welcome to El Barrio with Becca Ramos, iHeart Radio, February 10, 2026
- Anamaria Artemisa Sayre, “What you should know about Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show,” NPR Weekend Edition, February 8, 2026
- NPR Throughline. “How Bad Bunny Took Puerto Rican Independence Mainstream.” February 12, 2026
RADIO
- Cátedra, radio show, WKAQ 590 (Puerto Rico), February 9, 2026 (no link)
TV NEWS INTERVIEWS
- Noticias Univisión: Edición nocturna, Univisión, February 2, 2026 (no link)
- WISN News at 4:00pm, WISN, February 2, 2026