Monica Bushman
produces arts and culture coverage for LAist's on-demand team. She’s also part of the Imperfect Paradise podcast team.
Published May 13, 2024 5:00 PM
Jacqueline Valenzuela with her lowrider "La Playgirl." Valenzuela highlights women and the LGBTQ+ community in lowriding culture through her artwork and the car club she helped found.
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Topline:
When artist Jacqueline Valenzuela first got her Cadillac, a lot of people assumed it belonged to her husband. When she heard from more women who had the same experience, she got an idea: "Maybe I should paint the women in the community or paint about the community, but from a female perspective."
Why now: Lowriders are getting the spotlight this spring. A new exhibition called "Best in Low" opened this past weekend at the Petersen Automotive Museum.
It’s a question multidisciplinary artist Jacqueline Valenzuela says she hears often. So often, in fact, it makes her laugh.
“It’s literally my life,” Valenzuela recently told How To LA host Brian De Los Santos. “I don't know how to better explain it. It's merged into my art practice. I have a car. My studio's in an auto body shop. Like, I can't escape it.”
The car is a 1975 Cadillac Eldorado that Valenzuela has named, “La Playgirl.”
Jacqueline Valenzuela with her lowrider "La Playgirl." Valenzuela highlights women and the LGBTQ+ community in lowriding culture through her artwork and the car club she helped found.
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“She’s hot pink, which I always think is funny because I hated pink growing up and now I have a hot pink car," Valenzuela said. "It’s very much playing on the idea of an alter ego, like a woman that’s in charge.”
Elevating women
One area in which Valenzuela has taken charge is highlighting other women like her in the lowrider community. Like her friend Ashley — a nail technician who does lowrider-inspired nails. Or another friend, Monique, who she’s painted three times and whose son now wants to pursue an arts degree, like Jacqueline did.
Jacqueline Valenzuela is a Chicana artist and founder of the Prophets Car Club.
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Valenzuela's workspace at her studio/auto shop (The Kolor Studio) in the City of Industry.
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“For so long women in the [lowrider] space were just looked at as eye candy or like models,” Valenzuela said. “And yeah, some women do own cars and model with their cars. That's amazing. [But] there's also women that don't model with their cars and sometimes they're not given that platform, so I strive to do that through my art practice.”
Her studio space in the city of Industry, which she shares with her fiancé Mark Hocutt, is also partly an auto shop. In the front is an office and a space for Jacqueline to paint on canvases, a panel for a hand-painted mural on a car, or to work on an installation. In the back is the auto shop, with classic cars that Mark — a custom car painter — is working on.
“Whenever I need inspiration I literally just walk back there and I’m like, Oh I can paint this,” Valenzuela said. “Sometimes it’ll be something as simple as seeing tires that are arranged a certain way and I’ll want to paint that.”
Her art, her car
She describes her style of art as “hybrid” with realistic depictions of people, cars, and places mixed in with more abstract elements — like the use of pixels and bold color choices.
A painting by Jaqueline Valenzuela.
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“If you look at my art, you see that I like almost an off putting amount of color, and that's what I like on cars too,” she said. “I want to see patterns that don't make sense together or that look weird together.”
And while the combination of her love of lowriders and fine art makes sense to her, it’s not always obvious to others.
“It’s funny that in the art world, sometimes I'm not taken seriously because of the lowrider aspect, but then in the lowrider world, sometimes I'm not taken seriously because of the fine art aspect,” she said.
While it used to bother her, Valenzuela said, it doesn’t anymore. And the people that know her know that she has real cred in both worlds.
She gained the confidence to pursue fine art as a career while getting her art degree at Cal State Long Beach, and her work is now in galleries and museums. (Currently, she has a solo show at Arts at Blue Roof in South L.A.)
She also grew up in Whittier, where she was around lowriders all the time. And she took a three-year hiatus from fine art to work in an auto shop painting lowriders.
Inclusion matters
Valenzuela and Hocutt both also co-founded — along with their friend Jesse Jaramillo — a car club called Prophets that welcomes women and people who identify as LGBTQ+.
Valenzuela helped found the Prophets Car Club which encourages women and LGBTQ+ membership.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Details from Valenzuela's lowrider "La Playgirl."
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“There's still lowrider car clubs that have laws and bylaws that don't allow women to even sit in on their car club meetings,” Valenzuela said. “There is still a lot of that point of view that, ‘Oh, you're queer? That's not normal.’”
“I feel like it's so embedded in [Chicano] culture that unfortunately it's gone into the lowrider community as well," Valenzuela added. "That's why we thought it was important to carve out a space for ourselves and make sure that people that we love and really care for feel safe in the space that we're like making for ourselves in the lowrider community.”
By Adriana Gallardo, A Martínez, Lilly Quiroz | NPR
Published February 8, 2026 6:12 AM
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Topline:
Bad Bunny is headlining today's Superbowl halftime show — a historic moment for some, a controversial choice for others.
The backstory: Bad Bunny, made history at the 2026 Grammy Awards when he became the first artist to win album of the year for a Spanish-language album. The artist has been vocal in his opposition to federal ICE raids.
Why now: But this Sunday, Bad Bunny will meet a larger and potentially more politically divided audience at the Super Bowl. Since late September when the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced their invitation to Bad Bunny, many took to social media to voice their indignation at the choice to platform an artist who has only released music in Spanish.
Puerto Rican superstar, Bad Bunny, made history at the 2026 Grammy Awards when he became the first artist to win album of the year for a Spanish-language project, with him winning for his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos. In addition to the top prize, Bad Bunny, whose given name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, took home the award for the best música urbana album and best global music performance for his song "EoO".
In his acceptance remarks, and not unlike other moments throughout his career, the artist used the spotlight to express his political views.
"Before I say thanks to God, I'm going to say ICE out," Bad Bunny said during his acceptance speech for best música urbana album. "We're not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens — we're humans and we are Americans," he added in response to the ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the country.
The crowd in Los Angeles, largely met his statements with applause and ovation.
But this Sunday, Bad Bunny will meet a larger and potentially more politically divided audience at the Super Bowl, where he is set to headline this year's halftime show. Since late September when the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced their invitation to Bad Bunny, many took to social media to voice their indignation at the choice to platform an artist who has only released music in Spanish.
To learn more about Bad Bunny's political history and what we might expect at the Super Bowl, Morning Edition host A Martinez spoke with Petra R. Rivera-Rideau, who chairs the American Studies Department at Wellesley College and the co-author, alongside Vanessa Díaz, of the new book, P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance. The two academics are also behind the Bad Bunny Syllabus, an online teaching resource based on Puerto Rican history and Bad Bunny's meteoric rise since 2016.
Below are three takeaways from the conversation.
Students come for Bad Bunny and stay for the history
Rivera-Rideau teaches "Bad Bunny: Race, Gender, and Empire in Reggaetón" at Wellesley and said the course uses Bad Bunny's work as a hook to get students into the seminar.
"But we really actually spend most of our time talking about Puerto Rican history and Puerto Rican history is part of U.S. history," she said. "And Bad Bunny music has consistently made references to this history."
Rivera-Rideau pointed to an example from 2018 when Bad Bunny debuted on a U.S. mainstream English language television show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The artist opened with a critique of the Trump administration's handling of Hurricane Maria, which had devastated his island in 2017.
"After one year of the hurricane, there's still people without electricity in their homes. More than 3,000 people died and Trump is still in denial," Martínez Ocasio said.
Latinos remain "perpetually foreign" to some
Puerto Ricans are born U.S. citizens — but this has not always protected them from being caught in recent ICE operations.
"I think part of that has to do with the kind of racialization of Spanish and the racialization of Latino communities of which Puerto Ricans are a part," she said. "And I think what it indicates is that, to me, Latinos in the United States, many of whom have been here for generations, are often understood to be perpetually foreign as a group of people that just does not belong."
The Party is the Protest
Rivera-Rideau said if Apple Music's trailer for the Super Bowl halftime show — which features Bad Bunny dancing with a group representing a smattering of ages, faces and abilities — is any indication of what audiences can expect on Sunday's stage, the theme might be joy in the face of a difficult moment for immigrants and Latinos in the U.S.
"One of the things we talk about in our book is that Bad Bunny is part of resistance, he does engage in protests but it's often through joy," she said. "We have a chapter in our book called 'The Party is the Protest' and I actually feel like that's what I expect at the Superbowl, a party and a protest.
Suzanne Levy
is a senior editor on the Explore LA team, where she oversees food, LA Explained and other feature stories.
Published February 8, 2026 5:00 AM
Can Bad Bunny outshine Kendrick?
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Topline:
For LAist Senior Editor Suzanne Levy, who grew up in the U.K., the Super Bowl is a fascinating experience. Yes, there's the football — but for her that's the least interesting thing about it.
Why it matters: Want to know how the Super Bowl looks to much of the rest of the world? Read on.
Why now: It's Super Bowl Sunday... let the commercials and the half-time show begin!
The Super Bowl, to someone who a) grew up in the UK, and b) doesn’t really get football, is a strange experience.
Of course, I’m talking American football, not English football, by the way. If England gets into the World Cup quarter final you might find me at 7 a.m. in a pub in Santa Monica drinking a nice cup of tea and cheering the TV.
The Super Bowl is a national cultural event, and there’s so much excitement running up to it, yet when it happens, the thing that everyone is fixated on is the thing you’re least interested in. As in, the football — the men with padded shoulders who pile into a heap. I mean, I get the ones in the middle are doing something, but the ones at the edges are just for show, right?
All the running and the throwing and the tackling … well that just gets in the way of all the entertainment.
OK, OK, I’m kidding. I do get excited when a halfback grabs the ball and starts up the field, elbowing people out of the way, but even that can get a bit wearing when it happens over and over again. Just let the guy get to where he wants to go already!
And that’s where the Super Bowl is ideal. It comes with ready prepared breaks in the action, so there’s no chance to get bored. There’s the commercials. Over the years, some of them have been so great, like that one with the kid and the Force, and that Eminem Detroit one.
Some, not so much. That’s where I do my armchair critiquing. “Well I hoped they paid him a whole boatload of money for that one, his credibility’s down the toilet,” or, “Oh come on, ad agency, for a million dollars per millisecond, that’s all you can come up with?”
But it’s the hope, the desire, that this moment you’ll be blown out of your chair. Wait, that sounds a lot like watching football. Hmm.
Then there’s the half time show, which I always watch. “Call me when it starts!” I yell at my family as I walk out to do some very important laundry folding. As the music begins, I rush back in. Lady Gaga, Beyonce and now … Bad Bunny. As I watch pure perfection, I keep telling myself, they’re doing it live, in front of a billion people. They are not missing a damn note. Or step. Except that left shark. Hell, even the Weeknd won me over eventually.
And then there’s the last quarter. I make sure I watch that. It’s the psychodrama of it all. The looks on the coach’s faces as they chew their gum, serious, determined. The fans, holding their breath. The commentators asking Tom Brady what it was like when he was doing it. And then.. the whistle blows. And one half of the stadium is ecstatic, giddy with delight, while the other half stares into the abyss. It's a Shakespearean tragedy come to life. For all the commercials and the music, this really is the can’t miss part, which brings me back year after year. Go Patriots! Go Seahawks! Let the game begin.
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Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published February 8, 2026 5:00 AM
Bad Bunny is introduced during the Super Bowl LX Pregame & Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Press Conference at Moscone Center West on February 05, 2026 in San Francisco, California.
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Topline:
On Sunday, fans are gathering at bars and house parties to pay witness to Bad Bunny's historic performance at Benito Bowls viewing parties all across the Southland.
Why it matters: Superbowl halftime shows are always a big deal. But to many in Los Angeles and beyond, Bad Bunny's performance marks a particularly important cultural — and political — moment.
Why now: "We're going through a lot of heaviness here in our community with ICE [and] people disappearing. It's sad, we're angry," said Bianca Ramirez, LAist's director of operations and a longtime fan of Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican superstar whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio.
Superbowl halftime shows are always a big deal. But to many in Los Angeles and beyond, Bad Bunny's performance marks a particularly important cultural — and political — moment.
On Sunday, fans are gathering at bars and house parties to pay witness at so-called Benito Bowls viewing parties all across the Southland.
"We're going through a lot of heaviness here in our community with ICE [and] people disappearing. It's sad, we're angry," said Bianca Ramirez, LAist's director of operations and a longtime fan of the Puerto Rican superstar.
In the face of continual crackdown, she said, resistance shall take the form of pride and joy on Sunday. It'd be the first time the halftime show will be performed entirely in Spanish by a headliner.
" This is definitely unprecedented," Ramirez said.
Just a week before taking the Superbowl stage, Bad Bunny notched another first, winning album of the year at the Grammy's for the Spanish-language DeBí Tirar Más Fotos.
LAist's Bianca Ramirez with her Bad Bunny plushie.
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"[It] was such a proud moment for our Latino community, not here in Los Angeles, but around the world," Ramirez said, characterizing the album as one of the artist's most political to date. "He dives into gentrification and making sure that we protect Puerto Rico and its roots. He does criticize the Trump administration a lot in that album."
DeBí Tirar Más Fotos also won Best Música Urban album.
"Before I say thanks to God, I'm going to say ICE out," the artist, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, said as he accepted that award.
Later today, Ramirez is heading to a Benito Bowl — one of many gatherings held by Bad Bunny fans across the Southland. In her case, it's a backyard hang with childhood friends to celebrate a history-making concert "where these two other football teams so happen to be playing at the same time."
Ramirez has her fingers crossed that the performance includes the song that first got her hooked.
"Hopefully he surprises us with Cardi B [and] he plays I like it," she said. "Bring it full circle for me as a fan."
No matter what, it's an iconic day.
"It's just gonna be a moment for us to hang out and celebrate Latinidad and just [the] proudness that Bad Bunny brings to our communities and beyond," she said.
A general view of the Olympic flame in the Olympic cauldron designed by Marco Balich next to the Arco della Pace monument in Milan.
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Topline:
The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off in Milan on Friday evening, local time. Athletes representing over 90 countries march into the San Siro stadium filled with thousands of spectators during the opening ceremony in Milan.
Read on ... to see photos from the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.
The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off in Milan on Friday evening, local time. Athletes representing over 90 countries march into the San Siro stadium filled with thousands of spectators during the opening ceremony in Milan.
The performance paid homage to Italian music, art and culture with tributes to composers, visual artists and films in a colorful spectacle. Performers included Italian actress Matilda De Angelis, American singer Mariah Carey, Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, Italian rapper Ghali and Italian ballet dancers Antonella Albano and Claudio Coviello, among dozens of other dancers.
Here is a selection of images from the opening ceremony:
Italian ballet dancers Antonella Albano and Claudio Coviello perform during the opening ceremony.
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Colorful dancers perform under large tubes of paint suspended above them during the opening ceremony.
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Italian actress Matilda De Angelis (center) performs with dancers dressed as the three great masters of Italian opera: Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini.
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Mariah Carey sings during the opening ceremony.
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Performers dressed in the colors of the Italian flag line up during the opening ceremony.
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Members of The Corazzieri, the Italian Corps of Cuirassiers, raise the Italian flag during the opening ceremony.
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Two performers are suspended between two large rings.
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The Olympic Rings are revealed above dancers during the opening ceremony.
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An aerial view of the athletes parading into the San Siro stadium.
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Stoats Milo and Tina, the Paralympics and Olympics mascots, dance before the Olympic opening ceremony.
