Bad Bunny's Grammy Win Sparks White House Criticism Over ICE Comments

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday slammed artists, including musician Bad Bunny, who criticised the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the recent Grammy awards ceremony. “It’s very ironic and, frankly, sad to see celebrities who live in gated communities with private security, with millions of dollars to spend protecting themselves, trying to just demonise law enforcement public servants who work for the US government to enforce our nation’s laws,” Leavitt said. Bad Bunny made news on the Grammy night for multiple reasons, from his wins to his statements targeting ICE . This is not the first time the Puerto Rican has taken a political stand, and not the first time that has put him on the wrong side of the White House. Born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, he made history on Monday as he won the Grammy for Album of the Year for ‘DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (I Should Have Taken More Photos)’. It marked the first time a Spanish-language album claimed the top honour at music’s most hallowed night. The musician went on to dedicate the award “to all the people who had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams.” Earlier in the evening, he also won the golden gramophone in the ‘Best música Urbana Album’ category and used the platform to declare “ICE out,” “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans”. ICE has been at the helm of the campaign against “illegal” immigrants, which many have criticised as “inhuman”. Bad Bunny was chosen by the NFL to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday (February 9). US President Donald Trump called the selection “absolutely ridiculous”. The win shatters the notion that the top four Grammy categories (Album, Record, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist) awarded by the Recording Academy must be in English. That a Spanish-language album rooted in Puerto Rican history and politics won the coveted gramophone demonstrates a notable shift. It is also important in the context of today’s political and cultural climate in the US, when questions of language, migration and belonging are getting intense. What is DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS about? The album is an unapologetic embrace of where Bad Bunny comes from, centring the culture, language, and politics of Puerto Rico. Bringing folk music to the fore, Bad Bunny even got Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, a Puerto Rican historian and Assistant Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, on board to help with the album. In Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii’ , the album’s most popular number right now, Bad Bunny calls for Puerto Rico’s independence and sings: ‘Don’t let go of the flag nor forget the ‘lelolai’ because I don’t want them to do to you what they did to Hawaii.” Leolai is a lyrical chant in jíbaro (mountain) music style from Puerto Rico. He calls out the gentrification and over-tourism that Puerto Rico is facing and how it could lead to more displacement eventually, somewhat similar to what has happened to Hawaii. Who is Bad Bunny? The eldest of the three children of a truck driver and a school teacher, Bad Bunny grew up in Vega Baja, a coastal town in northern Puerto Rico. Music was all around him at home, where he soaked up salsa and merengue, pop, and early reggaetón. As a teenager, Bad Bunny sang in the church choir. While studying audiovisual communication at the University of Puerto Rico, a course he later abandoned, the musician did odd jobs to support himself. In his spare time, he would create and upload music rooted in the ordinary textures of Puerto Rican life. Bad Bunny’s political roots Bad Bunny is one of the most openly political global artists in the US today. Puerto Rico is a US territory where people still do not have the right to vote for President or any Congressional representation. In 2019, Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo “Ricky” Rosselló had to step down after his chats with his top aides were leaked and revealed messages that mocked victims of Hurricane María and were filled with misogyny, homophobia, and racism. People began protesting, and Bad Bunny, who was on tour in Europe, left it in the middle and returned to be with his people. He said at Harvard University that year that it was his “civic duty as a Puerto Rican” to participate in the protests. “Bad Bunny’s visibility during the 2019 protests increased his popularity among Puerto Ricans… It sealed his position as a spokesperson for the archipelago, even if that was not his goal,” write Vanessa Díaz and Petra Rivera-Ridea in P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance . Soon after, he released Afilando Los Cuchillos (Sharpening the Knives), a sharp critique of the government and how generations of Puerto Ricans had suffered. “Bad Bunny’s visibility during the 2019 protests increased his popularity among Puerto Ricans on and off the island. It sealed his position as a spokesperson for the archipelago, even if that was not his goal,” write Vanessa Díaz and Petra Rivera-Ridea in the book.