What Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Show Revealed About the Black Roots of Reggaeton

Feb. 10, 2026 – 16:41 – What did Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance really say? In this conversation, journalist Natasha S. Alford sits down with reggaeton historian and multimedia artist Gata of Reggaetón con la Gata to unpack the deeper cultural meaning behind the show’s visuals — from sugarcane fields and Piragua vendors to cornrows, dance, and Afro‑Caribbean rhythms. Gata traces reggaeton’s roots to dancehall, resistance, and Black barrios across Puerto Rico, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica — spotlighting pioneers like Tego Calderón, Daddy Yankee, El Chombo, and The Noise who paved the way for Bad Bunny’s global moment. We examine the connection between reggaeton and hip‑hop as political, community‑driven art forms born from marginalization — centering Afro‑Latinidad, history, and scholarship in how we understand the genre today.