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Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny on Saturday won the MTV Video Music Award for Artist of the Year. The singer performed via livestream from Yankee Stadium as part of the World’s Hottest Tour stop in New York. Bad Bunny performed his hit number Tití Me Preguntó on a stage decked out with palm trees and dancers.
Soon after his performance, Bad Bunny was surprised with the Artist of the Year Award live on stage. Nicki Minaj, who was the co-host at the VMAs, presented the category and declared Bad Bunny as the winner. The part that touched many fans online was when the artist gave his speech in Spanish.
The Puerto-American singer can also speak in English. However, due to his lack of fluency, his language skills have been questioned and made fun of several times. The artist has however previously stated that he does not plan to follow the standards imposed by the American music industry.
By bagging the Best Artist award, Bad Bunny beat fellow nominees including Harry Styles, Lizzo, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Lil Nas X, and Jack Harlow. The artist was also nominated in the Best Latin category for Tití Me Preguntó.
Receiving the award, the Puerto-Rican artist said:
“From my heart, I don’t have words to describe what I feel and the pride of receiving this at the Yankee Stadium. I always knew that I could become a huge artist without changing my culture, my slang, and my language. I am Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, from Puerto Rico to the world.”
Fans appreciate Bad Bunny for giving acceptance speech in Spanish
Several fans took to Twitter to appreciate Bad Bunny’s speech which was given in Spanish. Fans also likened the artist to Korean pop group BTS, known for giving speeches in their native language. Some also pointed out that this was not the first time the Puerto Rican artist gave his speech in his native language.
Bad Bunny has been vocal about not sticking to American music industry standards
In previous interviews, the artist noted that he was proud to speak Spanish. He also noted that he does not plan to follow the standards imposed by the American music industry. He said:
“Perhaps it was necessary and they opened doors to this Latin boom, but that moment is over for me. It makes me very proud to reach the level where we are speaking in Spanish, and not only in Spanish, but in the Spanish that we speak in Puerto Rico. Without changing the accent. We have to break that saying that gringos are gods.”
The artist is known to rap in three languages, including Spanish, English, and Spanglish. He is best known for the song I Like It featuring Cardi B and J Balvin. His hit single Mia peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 100 chart in 2018. In December 2018, he released his debut album X 100pre, followed by Oasis, a collaborative album with J Balvin, in June 2019.
In February 2020, he released his album YHLQMDLG. Most recently, the artist released the single Dákiti with Jhay Cortez. The song peaked at No.1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. The singer has also acted on the new season of the Netflix show Narcos: Mexico.
