BAD BUNNY CONQUERED THE WORLD.NOW WHAT?

Backstage, minutes before Bad Bunny’s headlining set at Coa­ chella, everyone seems to be running on pure adrenaline.

- JULYSSA LOPEZ

A group of dancers are climbing a set of stairs toward their marks when a security guard stops a wardrobe designer in their midst and refuses to let him pass. “He’s the designer!” one woman shrieks, her voice crackling with the anxiety of countless things that could go wrong. A gate flings open, and Kylie and Kendall

Jenner pass through the backstage area, leaving me so surprised that I wheel around and almost hit Kylie with my backpack. Nearby, a troop of fans break into sprints, trying to get into a private area just in front of the stage that’s rapidly filling up with celebrities from all over the world. Eventually, the Jenners; Blackpink’s Jennie, Rosé, and Jisoo; Mexican singer Peso Pluma; and Hailey and Justin Bieber all stand there to watch Bad Bunny make history in real time.

The crowd radiates a chaotic, uncontainable energy, understanding that there will be a precise before and after this moment. Bad Bunny is about to become the first Latino solo act and first Spanish­language artist to headline Coachella in the festival’s 30­year history.

Screens flicker. As the audience roars a few decibels louder in anticipation, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio is standing onstage in the dark, a mantra running through his head: Thank you, God, thank you, life, for letting me do this. It’s one of the only private moments he lets himself have during the performance — if he gets sidetracked by any thought, he tends to forget his lyrics, and this event is too big for distractions.