Bad Bunny was among Coachella’s most hotly anticipated acts and the Puerto Rican reggaeton giant delivered late Friday, performing two hours of his numerous hits set against a homage to trailblazing Latino artists.
The megastar was the first Spanish-language and first Latin American act to headline the major festival, which takes place over two three-day weekends and traditionally kicks off the summer touring circuit.
It’s but another notch on the belt of the artist born Benito Martinez Ocasio, the 29-year-old who is by most measures the biggest pop star in the world.
With tracks from “Vete” to “Titi Me Pregunto” to “Yo Perreo Sola,” the artist shut down the festival’s main stage in front of thousands of screaming fans, with trippy visuals and fireworks and flames bursting behind him.
The show also featured documentary-style footage with voiceovers contextualizing the history of the Latin American, and more specifically Caribbean, music that features heavily in his work. He also included extended dance breaks to classics including Ismael Rivera’s “Las Tumbas” and El Gran Combo’s “Brujeria.”
Like many artists at Coachella, Bad Bunny brought on famous guests including Post Malone, who – despite technical difficulties that rendered the artists at times inaudible – performed an acoustic version of “La Cancion” to the crowd’s delight.
Early in the set, Bad Bunny asked the crowd if they preferred he speak English or Spanish, and the response was a resounding vote for the latter.
Though he’s already one of the world’s top contemporary acts and played Coachella as a solo artist in 2019, he acknowledged the boundary that was broken Friday night as the night’s top-billed performer: “There’s never been someone like me before,” he said in Spanish.
