Bad Bunny was not a fan of one part of the broadcast of his Grammy performance.
In conversation with Michelle Ruiz for Vanity Fair, the Puerto Rican rapper revealed that set at the 65th Grammy Awards in February was originally meant to be a mid-show performance until producers got a glimpse of his rehearsal bumped him to the coveted opening slot. The performance of "El Apagón" and "Después de la Playa" made history as the first full Spanish-language opening performance at the Grammy Awards.
What should've been a celebratory moment for the rapper eventually left him confused. A still of Benito's performance with the closed captions reading "singing in non-English" quickly went viral on social media. Although he says he wasn't aware of the meme at first, he later called it "so fucked up."
"It's ugly to say that I saw it as normal. Then it was like, wow, wait a minute, what the hell? Why don't they have someone? Knowing that I was going to be there," he said before switching gears after a moment. "I sing for those who want to listen to me and those who understand me."
Bad Bunny secured three nominations that night, notably for Best Pop Solo Performance with his hit "Moscow Mule." Benito won in the category of Best Música Urbana Album for his blockbuster LP, Un Verano Sin Ti. The album made history as the first Spanish-language album to be nominated for Album of the Year, but ultimately, lost to Harry Styles' Harry's House.
"It wasn't because I didn't feel I was deserving or because I thought I couldn't win. It was because I don't really want to hear myself," he said about the snub. "I know I was going to get emotional. It would have been powerful and hard, dealing with that pride."
He continued, "Maybe they weren't ready for a Spanish-language album to win the big prize. I didn't even feel like [album of the year] had been stolen from me until the media started saying [it] and I saw that everybody thought I deserved the prize and everybody thought it was a robbery.... That's when they kind of convinced me and I said, 'Well, yes, it was a robbery then."
Benito doesn't appear to harbor any ill will towards the British singer. A viral Tiktok captured the "Titi Me Pregunto" rapper at Styles' L.A. concert with girlfriend Kendall Jenner earlier this year.
Speaking of, Benito is well aware of the speculation surrounding his high-profile relationship with girlfriend Kendall Jenner but says he's not concerned with "clarifying anything."
"They don't know how you feel, they don't know how you live, they don't know anything, and I really don't want them to know," he said. "I'm not really interested in clarifying anything because I have no commitment to clarify anything to anyone."
"Where She Goes," the Jersey club banger speculated to be about Jenner, also created chatter about whether Bad Bunny's English crossover attempt is imminent. Despite not being fluent yet, he's not opposed to the idea of writing music in English. "I am never going to do it just because someone says I need to do it to reach a certain audience," he clarified. "It's not like I hate the idea.... It's just that I feel more comfortable in my own language. I think in Spanish, I feel in Spanish, I eat in Spanish, I sing in Spanish."
However, he further elaborated that he speaks English "with some specific people." "With one of them, I couldn't talk to her before."
