Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican reggaeton star Bad Bunny made history at the Video Music Awards by becoming the first non-English-language performer to win the prize for artist of the year.
Bad Bunny beat out Drake, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Jack Harlow, Lil Nas X, and Lizzo for the award. He was also nominated for song of the summer (“Me Porto Bonito”), best Latin (“Tití Me Preguntó”), and album of the year (Un Verano Sin Ti).
“I have been saying it and I always believed from the beginning that I could become great,” Bad Bunny said in his acceptance speech, translated from Spanish.
“That I could become one of the biggest stars in the world without having to change my culture, my language, my jargon. I am Benito Antonio Martínez from Puerto Rico to the whole world. Thank you!”
Earlier this year, Bad Bunny’s fourth studio album, Un Verano Sin Ti, became the second all-Spanish-language record to debut atop the Billboard 200 chart in the US, according to MTV.
