50 Cent Puts Grammys On Blast For Failed Closed Caption During Bad Bunny's Performance

BYAron A.Published on February 09, 20231.5K Views

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson at the season 2 premiere of "BMF" held at TCL Chinese Theatre on January 5, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)

50 Cent calls out the Grammys for the closed captions used during Bad Bunny's appearance.

Bad Bunny’s impact is undeniable but the Grammys didn't necessarily accommodate his performance the way they should've -- an issue that 50 Cent, among many others, pointed out recently. The Puerto Rican rapper became a groundbreaking figure in the American music industry for the Spanish-speaking community around the globe. This was as evident in his appearance at the Grammys, where he was nominated in three categories, including Album Of The Year and Best Música Urbana Album, while also hitting the stage.

Bunny performed “El Apagón” and “Después de la Playa,” along with a live band and traditional dancers. Unfortunately, his fans weren’t happy with CBS's effort to provide Spanish closed captions during his appearance. Bunny delivered a bilingual speech but when he spoke Spanish, the closed captions read, “[SPEAKING NON-ENGLISH]." Then, during his performance, it similarly read, “[SINGING IN NON-ENGLISH].” This caused an uproar on social media among fans who labeled it racist.

50 Cent Chimes In

50 Cent also felt a type way about CBS’s broadcast of Bad Bunny’s appearance at the Grammys. Describing the “Yonaguni” artist as one of the biggest artists right now, he went in on the Recording Academy. “The Grammys need to be check about this, Fvcking @badbunnypr bigger than everybody right now and you can’t pay for closed caption. Wtf is this speaking Non-English,” he wrote. “FIX IT.” Though Fif isn’t the first person to bring up this issue, he might be the most prominent.

The Bad Bunny mishap hardly scratches the surface when it comes to 50 Cent's issues with the Grammys. As “In Da Club” reached 1.5B views on YouTube alone, he recalled the Grammys snubbing him in the Best New Artist category in 2004. At the time, Evanescence took home the awards and Fif suggested that he was “cheated” out of a Grammy that year. “Still no best new artist. I don’t know why people always want to cheat me man,” he wrote on IG. “They are counting from 2009, that song came out in 2003 Damn it Man !” It seems as though Fif has a list of grievances with the Grammys that continues to build up every year. Check his post above.

About The Author

Aron A.

Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.