MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The Super Bowl halftime show continues to bring attention to Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny. This week, he's all over the Billboard charts. Stephen Thompson of NPR Music breaks it down.
STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: For decades, the Super Bowl halftime show was performed by a mix of marching bands, drill teams and the clean-cut entertainers who comprised Up With People. Now the halftime show is a ratings bonanza in its own right, as well as a massive driver of streaming, radio airplay and record sales. For proof, look no further than this week's Billboard charts, which reflect the aftermath of Bad Bunny's halftime show earlier this month. The singer lands four songs in this week's top 10, led by "DtMF" at No. 1.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DTMF")
BAD BUNNY: (Singing in Spanish).
THOMPSON: Bad Bunny has hit No. 1 once before. Back in 2018, he appeared alongside Cardi B and J Balvin in their chart-topping single "I Like It."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I LIKE IT")
CARDI B, J BALVIN, BAD BUNNY: (Singing) I like it like that. Diamond district in the Jag. I said I like it like that.
THOMPSON: But "DtMF" is Bad Bunny's first ever No. 1 single as a solo artist, and it's still one of only four songs sung entirely or predominantly in Spanish ever to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The others are "La Bamba" performed by Los Lobos, "Macarena" by Los Del Rio and most recently, "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, featuring Justin Bieber.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DESPACITO")
LUIS FANSI, DADDY YANKEE, JUSTIN BIEBER: (Singing in Spanish).
THOMPSON: In all, 18 Bad Bunny songs turn up on this week's Hot 100, and the singer's most recent album, "DeBI TiRAR MaS FOToS," pulls huge numbers, though it falls short of No. 1 this week due to a colossal debut by the rapper J. Cole. Bad Bunny's latest chart success speaks to the power of the Super Bowl to generate big business for its halftime performers. In fact, he isn't the only artist to derive a chart benefit from the latest Super Bowl. Kid Rock headlined Turning Point USA's "All-American Halftime Show," during which he performed a new version of the Cody Johnson hit "Til You Can't."
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KID ROCK: (Singing) If you're gonna love somebody, hold 'em as long and strong and as close as you can till you can't.
THOMPSON: Now "'Til You Can't" lands Kid Rock on the Hot 100 for the first time in more than a decade, as the song debuts in a nice spot at No. 69. Stephen Thompson, NPR Music.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KID ROCK: Still waiting on you and your grandpa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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