VEGA BAJA, Puerto Rico, Feb 6 (Reuters) – In the small coastal Puerto Rican town of Vega Baja, the global megastar who is about to command the world’s biggest stage on Sunday is still just known as “Benito.”
Bad Bunny – whose given name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio – will make history when he headlines the Super Bowl LX halftime show in Santa Clara, California, bringing Spanish language and reggaeton rhythms to the annual American football spectacle.
In Vega Baja, where street art depicting the superstar dots the landscape, locals remember the quiet kid who bagged groceries and served as an altar boy.
At the Santisima Trinidad church in the Almirante Sur neighborhood, minister Jorge Rodriguez recalls young Benito attending mass with his mother.
“He always came with his mom. For a while he served as an altar boy,” Rodriguez said. “He was always very quiet, and he was always attentive to everything going on, with this drive to do things well and make them nice.”
At Juan Quirindongo Morell high school, janitor Nidia Vazquez remembers a responsible student. “He liked to write a lot. I think that even back then he was already writing to become what he is now,” she said.
After graduating in 2012, Bad Bunny worked at the local Econo Plaza supermarket, starting as a bagger before becoming a cashier. Four years later, he shot to international fame, going on to sell over 100 million records worldwide.
Yet he hasn’t forgotten home. Indeed, his latest, Grammy-winning, album is called “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” (I should have taken more photos) and is a celebration of his roots.
Community leader and personal friend Edwin Marrero Santiago, sporting a “Mi barrio se levanta” (My neighborhood rises up) shirt, described Bad Bunny’s charitable work, including rebuilding houses after Hurricane Maria.
“For a kid from here in the neighborhood, raised here in this same community where I grew up… to see him succeed today on a worldwide level is without a doubt a pride,” Marrero Santiago said.
The community leader beamed about Bad Bunny’s commitment to performing in Spanish at the Super Bowl. “That he truly carries the flag for our language, and not just Spanish, but the distinctive Spanish that we Puerto Ricans have… I am sure it is going to be something spectacular.”
(Reporting by Ricardo Ortiz, Paul Vieira, and Andrea Rodriguez. Writing by Angelica Medina; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
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