As the Zone’s resident spic, I suppose it is incumbent upon me to comment on Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny’s Superbowl halftime show.

I missed about half of his performance because I was making a sandwich in the kitchen, but I got a chance to hear it, at any rate.

Artistically, I didn’t care much for it. I’m not a fan of Rap music, it sounds just as bad to me in Spanish as it does in English.

Performance-wise, I had trouble picking up on the lyrics because of Senor Bunny’s Puerto Rican accent. I lived there for about a year, many years ago, but there’s a lot of new slang in the Hip-Hop Universe I’m not too hip to. My childhood Cuban Spanish is similar, but not exactly the same, and the vocal conventions of the Rap genre are not all that familiar to me. But what I did hear gave me a good idea of what he was talking about, and the spectacular stage show he brought with him reinforced his message quite effectively.

Political Impact: I think it was extremely effective. The show was about Puerto Rican culture and history, and the influence of the USA as an imperial/colonialist power.

Staging: The production values were superb, and with some obviously VERY meticulously rehearsed performers/props/dancers/musicians/camera and audio work, all on an elaborate set, the results supported the Rap, at least for the TV audience. It was worth watching for that alone. Its not clear what the folks in the bleachers saw, but I suppose they had the Jumbotron.

Cultural Notes: Anything that is sure to piss off MAGA can’t be all bad.

Oh, the game. A lot of people thought it was dull, but I love a good down-in-the-trenches defensive contest. I wasn’t rooting for either side, and by the last quarter the outcome was pretty much inevitable. Still, I enjoyed it.