When Bad Bunny lights up the Super Bowl on Feb. 8, he won't just be entertaining a global audience; he’ll be bringing Puerto Rican culture, history and identity to the biggest stage in the world.

It will be the crowning moment for Boricuas everywhere. We’ve been riding high since the 31-year-old musician, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, released in 2025 "Debí Tirar Más Fotos" – an album that fused centuries of Puerto Rican music from bomba and plena to salsa, reggaeton and Latin trap – and united mainland and diaspora Boricuas across generations in a way few of us have ever experienced.

Global headlines celebrated our culture. Celebrities made a pilgrimage to Bad Bunny’s San Juan residency. He even led a traditional musical parranda on "The Tonight Show." And on Feb. 1 he accepted a historic album of the year Grammy – the first ever for a Spanish-language album – his acceptance speech once again centered Puerto Rico.

For a full year, our island’s music, stories and history sat squarely in the global spotlight. 2025 was our year.

Yet visit Puerto Rico today, and Boricuas will tell you a very different story.

It’s been a........

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