By Robert Dean
Carter County Times
I don’t like Bad Bunny’s music. I dislike all forms of music that sound like that. I wasn’t thrilled when I heard he’d been tapped for the Super Bowl Halftime Show. I was hoping Metallica would finally get their day, so the world could see those dudes rip through “For Whom the Bell Tolls” after “Enter Sandman,” which is played at every sporting event on Earth. People know that riff. Jack White or Sturgill Simpson would’ve been cool. Hell, I’d take Zach Bryan and his antics. But then it hit me: the Halftime Show isn’t for me. It’s one big commercial for pop music, not rebellion, and rock isn’t part of the national cultural conversation right now.
Metallica, with a 40-year career, has sold over 150 million albums worldwide. Bad Bunny, in less than a decade, has already racked up more than 115 million equivalent sales through streaming and albums. As much as I’d love to hear “Master of Puppets,” the kids of today — on a global scale — are into what Bad Bunny does. That’s just the math mathing.
Every year, people complain about the Halftime Show, just like they complain SNL isn’t funny or that The Simpsons has gone downhill. It’s as predictable as it gets.
Culture is personal. We like what we like. I hate Jimmy Buffett, Billy Joel, the Eagles, and Guns N’ Roses. The Halftime Show isn’t supposed to reflect mine or yours — it’s pop spectacle, shilling Apple Music (Pepsi before that). Are you going to be shocked when you see rampant product placement? Oh! A Miller Lite commercial? The horror.
And for anyone griping about a Puerto Rican artist headlining, saying he’s “not American”: my dudes and dudettes, Puerto Rico has been a U.S. territory since 1898. We just never made it the 51st state, probably because we like round numbers.
Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s un-American. The Super Bowl is a marketing event with fireworks and celebrity polish. People will always complain about who gets the gig. But the best one was Prince — and that’s just a fact. “Purple Rain” IN THE RAIN? COME ON. Bad Bunny is fine. It’s literally :30 minutes during a football game. Go chug a beer, eat some bean dip and move on with your life. If Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs aren’t there, that’s the real win.
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