First, the Colombian singer-songwriter strategically deployed an arsenal of hits on Sunday familiar to her Anglophone fan base. If anyone knows what it takes to transition from the Spanish-language pop-music market, it’s Shakira. (Though it’s worth noting that neither Shakira nor Jennifer were the first Latinas to ever headline a halftime show - that accolade belongs to the honorable Cuban American Gloria Estefan, who in 1992, braved the elements to sing “Get On Your Feet” in frigid Minneapolis.) Perhaps understanding the gravity of this moment, the duo skipped the music awards ceremony last weekend to rehearse covertly in Miami with the women who helped pave their way. And it was nothing short of brilliant to invite New Latino Gangsters J Balvin and Bad Bunny, two of the most prolific hitmakers today, both recent Grammy nominees. mainstream, they came full circle with their Super Bowl debut. Now, roughly 20 years since Shakira and Jennifer Lopez went blond and helped build demand for bilingual Latin pop in the U.S. In the context of American pop culture at large, this year’s halftime show undeniably represents a watershed moment for Latinos in the United States. Was this new, inclusive halftime show a cynical way to silence black activists? Or could it be a viable space for inciting social change in the United States? As the show went on, it became harder than ever to parse - because the answer is, simply, yes. And for many, enjoying the uptick in Latinx representation felt like a betrayal to black communities - the tension more intensely felt among black Latinos. (“It would’ve been a truly powerful moment for the Latinx community if two white-passing Latinas and aligned themselves as allies to the black community and rejected an offer to perform at the Super Bowl,” wrote Melania-Luisa Marte for Remezcla in 2019.) As Kaepernick’s former team faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs in the year’s biggest football game, his absence was felt deeply across the internet. Online, both Latinos and non-Latinos spent the days leading up to Super Bowl Sunday mired in intellectual skirmishes. In honor of Miami’s 70 percent Hispanic population, he promptly recruited the two most famous Latinas he could find to represent: J.Lo and Shakira. When paired with the Inspire Change initiative, which has proposed $100 million in grants to grassroots social-justice groups, Jay-Z argued it was a challenge worth accepting. That is until 2019, when the NFL proposed a partnership with his agency, Roc Nation, to help rehab their reputation by curating a diverse lineup of performers for its Miami edition of the Super Bowl. In solidarity with Kaepernick, the rapper-turned-entertainment mogul Jay-Z had counted himself among those boycotting the NFL. So long as Kaepernick remained jobless for exercising his right to free speech, according to some critics, performing the halftime show would be tantamount to crossing the picket line. Citing the coerced resignation of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick - best known for kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racial inequality through 2016 - several black performers, including Rihanna and Cardi B, had declined the coveted halftime slot. Yet in the months leading up to the show, both fans and detractors came down on the pop stars for even accepting a gig from the NFL. “Especially right now in Trump’s America.” “I think it’s super important for two Latina women to be headlining the Super Bowl,” Lopez told the Los Angeles Times. What’s better than one diva headlining this year’s Super Bowl LIV Halftime show? Two! Repping Latina talent from Barranquilla to the Bronx, Colombian rock-pop queen Shakira and Nuyorican superstar Jennifer Lopez touched down on Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium Sunday night - and put on a show you “can’t remember to forget.”
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