This piece speaks directly to people who believe that Bad Bunny hates America. To the people who feel uneasy when people and culture look different than it did when they were young, or even just a generation ago. It is firm, factual, and grounded in history, economics, and law.
No slogans. No insults. Just evidence.
Start with a definition problem
A lot of the anger around Bad Bunny has nothing to do with him as a person and everything to do with an unexamined assumption: that “loving America” means sounding, looking, and speaking one very specific way.
Now as a reminder. We are talking about one person, a music artist, who happens to be the most streamed artist in the entire world, and they are a person who chooses to make music, do business, travel, spend money, pay taxes, just like any other citizen in the USA.
As best as we know, this person does not violate any laws. He does not associate with bad people. To our knowledge, and most people’s knowledge, he has been charged with absolutely zero criminal activity.
He does however stand up for other people, women, children, people of color. He defends his communities. He shares positive messages and shines a light on culture.
Some of his music is more for adults while some is more for everybody.
And he definitely challenges classic social norms in the USA such as masculinity, white males running the country, speaking perfect english, and a number of other examples that take us further into a black hole of him just being different than some people.
Now, it is extremely important to recognize that any assumption of what an American should or should not look like, does not come from the Constitution, the Founders, or our country’s history.
There is nothing in the constitution, nothing said by the founders, and nothing set in stone over history that says someone from the USA has to look a certain way, talk a specific language, or generally, just fit in.
These projections of what an American should or shouldn’t look like comes from nostalgia, personal preference, and what people are used to seeing in their communities.
The United States has never been culturally static. It has always been for all kinds of different people.
The country has never just been a home to one type of person, or one group of people.
German newspapers were printed in Pennsylvania in the 1700s.
Italian, Irish, Yiddish, and Spanish neighborhoods shaped major cities in the 1800s and early 1900s.
Jazz, blues, country, hip-hop, and rock were all once labeled “un-American” by people who later claimed them as national treasures.
Bad Bunny sits squarely in that same lineage and deserves to be treated with respect just as any other person.
Puerto Ricans are also Americans, legally and historically
This is not a feeling. It is law.
Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917.
They serve in the U.S. military.
They pay federal taxes such as Social Security and Medicare.
They migrate freely between the island and the mainland because they are Americans.
Tens of thousands of Puerto Rican veterans have served in every major U.S. conflict of the last century.
Bad Bunny was born in Puerto Rico. That alone makes him American. No cultural test is required.
When critics say “he doesn’t love America,” what they usually mean is “he doesn’t perform Americanness the way I expect.”
That is a preference, not a principle.
That is a statement that divides.
Loving America is not the same as loving the government
One of the most basic ideals in the United States is the right to criticize power. The First Amendment exists precisely because the Founders understood that blind loyalty is dangerous and un-American.
Bad Bunny has criticized:
• Colonial power dynamics affecting Puerto Rico
• Economic exploitation
• Disrespect toward working-class communities
• Violence, misogyny, and discrimination
That is not anti-American behavior. That is textbook USA civic behavior.
Let’s help you understand this a bit easier.
If criticizing institutions automatically meant hating America, then the Boston Tea Party would be treason, Vietnam War protests would be illegitimate, and conservative talk radio itself would be anti-American.
Economic reality: Bad Bunny invests in the United States
Strip away culture war noise and look at numbers.
Bad Bunny:
• Historically he performed primarily in U.S. cities
• Employs thousands of United States workers through concerts, venues, logistics, and marketing
• Pays U.S. taxes on U.S. earnings
• Generates hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity for USA cities
United States capitalism rewards him because U.S. audiences show up. That is not accidental. It is a two-way relationship built on voluntary exchange, not ideology.
If he truly hated America, the simplest move would be to take his money elsewhere. He does not.
Remember when everyone said he hated America because he chose to do a a series of shows outside of the United States and only in Puerto Rico and a few other latin countries?
Puerto Rico is part of the United States and he helped generated a ton of money to help the country and city that he came from.
Is there anything more inspiring than being successful enough to decide where you want to go, when you want to be there, and having your art and work help so many people?
Helping women, children, small businesses, and the entire country.
Give the hatred a break.
Language does not determine loyalty
Spanish is not a foreign language in the United States. It has been spoken in what is now U.S. territory longer than English has been spoken in many states.
Florida, Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and Puerto Rico all have deep Spanish-language histories that predate their current political borders.
Speaking Spanish is not a rejection of the United States. It is part of this country’s culture.
When critics say “this doesn’t feel American,” they are reacting to demographic change, not constitutional violation.
Is our country worse now than before, simply because there are more spanish speaking people here?
That is outrageous and incredibly small-minded.
Diversity is not a threat, it is an engine
The United States became a superpower by absorbing talent, not by filtering culture.
Every major USA cultural export came from mixing:
• Blues fused African rhythms with European instruments
• Rock blended blues, gospel, and country
• Hip-hop merged Caribbean sound systems, Black American poetry, and urban storytelling
Bad Bunny’s music blends Caribbean rhythms, hip-hop, pop, and electronic production. That is not cultural erosion. That is USA cultural behavior repeating itself.
United States fans want Bad Bunny music, art, culture, events. It’s as simple as that.
Masculinity, strength, and self-confidence
A quieter criticism is about masculinity. Bad Bunny does not perform toughness the way some men expect. He wears nail polish. He rejects rigid gender roles. He speaks openly about respect for women.
None of that weakens the United States, but boy does it sure piss off a lot of people.
In fact, the strength of the United States has always come from confidence, not insecurity.
A nation afraid of expression is a nation that doubts itself.
A culture that allows variation is one that knows it does not need uniformity to survive.
Patriotism vs nationalism
This distinction matters.
To many people, patriotism means caring enough to improve your country.
To many people, nationalism means demanding conformity and punishing difference.
Bad Bunny’s message is patriotic by the first definition.
When he highlights marginalized voices, he is not saying “America is bad.” He is saying “The United States can live up to its ideals.” That is the same argument made by Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan in different ways and different eras.
Freedom cuts both ways
You do not have to like Bad Bunny’s music. Taste is subjective.
But our freedoms in the United States does not protect only the culture you enjoy. It protects the culture you dislike as well. That is the deal. That is the social contract.
People get to enjoy and be passionate about whatever they like, within reason. If someone believes in free speech, free markets, and individual liberty, then Bad Bunny succeeding on his own terms is not a problem.
It is proof the American dream still works.
The real discomfort about Bad Bunny and hating the United States
Strip everything else away and the discomfort usually comes down to this:
America is changing, and some people feel left behind
That pain is real.
But blaming artists, immigrants, or diversity for economic and cultural anxiety misidentifies the cause.
Corporate consolidation, wage stagnation, outsourcing, and political gridlock did not come from musicians singing in Spanish, or speaking out against people of color being targeted by federal and local officers.
Bad Bunny has never ordered federal troops to go into American communities for illegal immigrants.
Bad Bunny has never arrested citizens of the United States.
All Bad Bunny has done is speak on behalf of millions of Americans and people across the world, and say this,
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out. We’re not savages, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans. The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love. So we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love. We don’t hate them. We love our people. We love our family, and that’s the way to do it with love. Don’t forget that, please. Thank you.”
Bad Bunny did not take anything from anyone. He built something that millions of Americans choose to support every day.
Bad Bunny did not encourage people to be violent.
He did not tell people to take over immigration buildings.
He did not tell people America was bad.
He communicated with love and asked for people to give more love.
Final reality check in case you’re still hating for whatever reason
Bad Bunny:
• Is American by citizenship
• Operates within USA law
• Succeeds through American markets
• Exercises USA free speech
• Promotes dignity, community, and pluralism
That is not anti-American.
That is the USA doing exactly what it has always done when it is at its best.
You do not have to love the music.
You do not have to agree with every message.
But if freedom, capitalism, and constitutional rights matter, then Bad Bunny’s success is not a threat to the United States.
It is proof that this country is still strong enough to hold more than one version of itself at the same time.
