Bad Bunny addresses 'f---ed-up' Grammys closed-captioning controversy
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Bad Bunny is looking back at the 2023 Grammys' closed-captioning fiasco read around the world, calling it "so f---ed up" that he initially didn't realize what had happened.
On the Crypto.com Arena stage in February, the Puerto Rican superstar opened the show with a medley performance of "El Apagón" and "Después de la Playa" from his album Un Verano Sin Ti. In lieu of traditional closed captions, CBS provided captions that just read "singing in non-English" for the rapper, who was performing in Spanish. Upon reflection, "it's ugly to say that I saw it as normal," Bad Bunny told Vanity Fair in a featured published Tuesday.
"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. (Other English-speaking artists featured in the telecast were given standard closed-captioning.) Bad Bunny added, "I sing for those who want to listen to me and those who understand me."
Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Bad Bunny at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards
Un Verano Sin Ti made history as the first Spanish-language album nominated for Album of the Year at the ceremony, but in a controversial upset, it lost out to Harry Styles' Harry House, which also beat out Beyoncé's favored Renaissance. Bad Bunny revealed the loss offered relief, citing his ego. "It wasn't because I didn't feel I was deserving or because I thought I couldn't win," he said. "It was because I don't really want to hear myself. I know I was going to get emotional. It would have been powerful and hard, dealing with that pride."
The album did, however, take home the win for Best Música Urbana Album.
Elsewhere, Bad Bunny said he'd be open to one day releasing an English-language song should the right project or collaborator come along, but he'd never do so "just because someone says I need to do it to reach a certain audience." It's "not like I hate the idea" of singing in English, Bad Bunny said. "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."
It's heavily implied in the profile that Bad Bunny, who has a penchant for dropping albums with little to no notice, will release a new album in the fall. (He remained coy and did not explicitly confirm.) "I am playing around and enjoying myself, letting go," he said of experimenting with a new sound. "I'm being inspired a lot by the music of the '70s, but I'm not sure if this is going to shape my music, generally or just one song."
Bad Bunny also made history earlier this year when he became the first Spanish-language artist to headline Coachella. In recent months, he's been making headlines for his romance with Kendall Jenner.
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