AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Last night, during the Super Bowl halftime show, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny transported millions of people to his island. For 13 minutes, he layered reference upon reference to music, life and joy in Puerto Rico, from dancing salsa at a wedding to blasting reggaeton in a pickup truck. People were watching in San Juan as well, seeing bits of their life on the screen, and NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento was there with some of them.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: On a mostly residential street in the working-class neighborhood of Santurce, there's a small spot called El Gandul. Its neon-green walls and yellow twinkle lights stand out, and almost every night of the week, live music spills through its windows.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL GROUP #1: (Singing in Spanish).
SARMIENTO: Neighbors are cracking beers, playing rumba, bomba, plena - the musical styles of El Gandul.
CARMEN OSORIO MORALES: (Speaking Spanish).
SARMIENTO: Carmen Osorio Morales opened El Gandul with her husband almost two years ago. She says it's been their lifelong dream to create a space for the community to gather. Her husband grew up in a building on this same block. Luis Rivera is one of the artists performing at El Gandul on Sunday. He's here almost every week, but this night is different. There's rumba, but there's also a screening of Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl.
LUIS RIVERA: (Speaking Spanish).
SARMIENTO: Rivera says there's been a resurgence in Puerto Rican culture alongside Bad Bunny's ascent to global pop stardom.
RIVERA: (Speaking Spanish).
SARMIENTO: Rivera says that by incorporating plena and bomba into his last album, Bad Bunny opened a door for musicians whose focus is playing traditional music for the people of their barrios and their neighborhoods.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL GROUP #2: (Singing in Spanish).
SARMIENTO: Inside, the football game is being projected onto the bar's thick cement walls, but no one's watching. Instead, they face the stage at the front of the room, where half a dozen musicians are playing.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL GROUP #2: (Singing in Spanish).
SARMIENTO: Then, the rumba stops. The sound system switches over to a broadcast feed, and people milling in the street start packing into the bar. There are small children, families and wanderers from the neighborhood, all craning to get a look at the screen. Finally, their homegrown hero appears.
(CHEERING)
SARMIENTO: As Bad Bunny zigzags across fields of sugar canes and through a house that looks like it was plucked out of this very neighborhood, El Gandul explodes into a party.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing in Spanish).
SARMIENTO: Carmen Osorio Morales' husband steps onto the stage and starts waving his arms, encouraging everyone to stand up and dance together. The singing gets louder and louder.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing in Spanish).
SARMIENTO: There are dozens of Puerto Rican flags bouncing around the room on T-shirts and baseball caps and waving in people's hands. Outside afterwards, Carmen Osorio Morales takes a minute to gather herself.
OSORIO MORALES: (Speaking Spanish).
SARMIENTO: She says her chest tightened as familiar faces flashed across the screen. Many of the musicians who performed with Bad Bunny are regulars at El Gandul. She's known some of them since they were children. And some of the themes of struggle that Bad Bunny depicted were familiar too.
OSORIO MORALES: (Speaking Spanish).
SARMIENTO: On screen, Bad Bunny dangled from an electrical pole in reference to the island's constant power outages.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BAD BUNNY: (Singing in Spanish).
OSORIO MORALES: (Speaking Spanish).
SARMIENTO: Osorio Morales says there were three separate power outages at El Gandul on Saturday. She doubted whether they'd be able to screen the halftime show at all. Angelina Villapiano, an artist and comedian, says that's what she most appreciated about the halftime show - Bad Bunny's honest depiction of life on the island.
ANGELINA VILLAPIANO: It's not just cool to be Puerto Rican, it's tough to be Puerto Rican. We have a difficult history. We have a difficult present-day, and the future is also uncertain.
SARMIENTO: But right now, it's time for the second set of rumba. Some people pack up to head home. Others start dancing again as the music picks back up.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL GROUP #3: (Singing in Spanish).
SARMIENTO: One musician told me Bad Bunny's performance felt like a boost to the artists back home in bars like this one to keep pushing forward. Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR News, San Juan.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL GROUP #3: (Singing in Spanish). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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