Bad Bunny’s Code-Switching Helps Bilingual Students Feel Seen
UC Davis scholars discuss the politics behind the bangers
On a sun soaked, 78-degree evening in April, a mix of students and faculty huddled on blue blankets and concrete steps near the School of Education Building while a large, portable JBL speaker played music from one of the most popular artists in the world right now: Bad Bunny.
The Bad Bunny Picnic was thought up by a group of professors in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese in the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis who realized the significant impact the musician has been having on their students as well as Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S.
In the weeks leading up to the picnic, Bad Bunny won the Grammy for Album of the Year for DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS — the first Spanish language album to receive the prize. He was also the star of the Super Bowl Halftime Show and, that Monday after the game, Bad Bunny’s performance was all anyone in the department wanted to talk about.
“It feels like there's a historical moment of visibility of the language in the U.S.,” said Daniela Gutiérrez Flores, assistant professor of Spanish at UC Davis. “The feel in the classroom was so ecstatic — the students felt very seen."
Through his message of love, his use of symbolism and language, and his overt cultural pride, Bad Bunny is standing up for his beliefs, values, the greater Hispanic community, the Spanish language and his native Puerto Rico.
“It's not just an album,” said Charlie Hankin, assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese. “It's a whole phenomenon.”