When NPR’s Felix Contreras interviewed Bad Bunny back in 2018, he was struck by his authenticity. It was just after the Puerto Rican rapper, singer and producer’s first album had dropped, and Contreras remembers how nice he seemed.
“We went through this interview and then at the end he says, ‘then if it doesn’t work out, I’ll go back to bagging groceries.’ And he meant it. He sincerely meant it.”
Ahead of Bad Bunny’s global performance during the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, Contreras is in high demand for his insights about that event, on cable news and podcast platforms. The co-creator of NPR’s Alt.Latino music program, which marks its 15th anniversary this year, spoke with NPF Widening the Pipeline fellows in October.
Contreras’s expertise in the history, culture and influence of Latino music is unparalleled, as accolades like the 2025 Hispanic Heritage Award continue to accumulate. And just like Bad Bunny, Contreras is seizing the moment to communicate the immense economic power of Latino communities that makes investment in Latino culture a smart business decision, not a diversity initiative.
Here are highlights from his session:
Don’t give up on your ideals
Contreras described a pivotal moment during his first job at the NBC affiliate in Fresno, Calif. While covering the negotiations between the United Farm Workers and the Fresno County Farm Bureau, Contreras, who was a bit of a self-described radical, challenged a spokesperson who he believed was being paid by the Farm Bureau to criticize the UFW.
While not directly responding to the challenge, the man shared some profound advice.
“He basically said, ‘Felix, don’t ever give up your ideals. Don’t ever sacrifice what you think you got into this business for.’ And essentially what he was telling me, it was too late for him. He was about to retire. He was an older white guy … and he said, keep doing what you’re doing.”
Latino music isn’t a fad
Contreras recalled that when Gloria Estefan proposed releasing the 1985 song “Conga,” her record label objected, telling her “Nobody’s ever going to know how to dance to that beat. No one’s going to want to know. No one’s going to know how to sing it or say it. You got to come up with something else.”
But Estefan and her producer husband refused to budge – and the rest is triple platinum music history. The incredible success of the song 2017 Luis Fonsi-Daddy Yankee song “Despacito” moved the needle further.
“You don’t have to sing in English to cross over anymore,” Contreras said. “Gloria and Jose Feliciano and Carlos Santana, all those guys, they opened those doors. ‘Despacito’ opened that door and Bad Bunny’s just blowing it up. You don’t have to make any sacrifices. You don’t have to water down your message.”
Embrace your identity — and speak up
Throughout his career, Contreras says he’s often had to interject when people have referred to the “Latino community,” because it’s not a monolith.
“At first, I was like, ‘oh my God, I’m going to be that guy [who] pointed it out.’ But it was always met with appreciation in an editorial situation. It helps people refocus and redesign and rethink that – not just Latino communities, African American community, the Asian community, whatever, all people of color – you can’t consider them as a lump of people. There’s so much diversity within those different ethnicities and communities that it helps your newsroom if you approach it that way and understand that going in. So anytime that I heard the ‘Latino Bloc,’ I raised my hand, ‘Stop, you got to stop. There’s no such thing.'”
Access the full transcript here.
This fellowship is funded by the Evelyn Y. Davis Foundation. NPF is solely responsible for the content. To support the 2026 program, contact rjones@nationalpress.org.
