The owner of a beloved taco shop who appeared in Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show has revealed the message of love the Puerto Rican rapper preached to his cast.
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Chef Victor Villa of Villa's Tacos was among those making cameos in Bad Bunny's celebratory performance, a show which paid tribute to the rapper's native Puerto Rico.
But well before he ever took the stage, Bad Bunny's presence at the Super Bowl landed him at the center of a political firestorm, with President Trump decrying the selection and Turning Point USA producing an alternative halftime show in response.
Speculation was rampant about what kind of performance Bad Bunny would deliver in light of the political climate, but what ended up manifesting was an uplifting and jubilant display celebrating Puerto Rican and Hispanic culture, along with a declaration of unity.
The message is one Bad Bunny offered his cast well before the show, with Villa revealing in an exclusive interview with The Daily Mail that the musician, 31, had paused rehearsal to preach the 'power of love' with his cast.
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'One of the days that we're rehearsing, he just took a moment to just talk to everybody... about the power of love,' Villa told The Daily Mail in an interview conducted at his busy taco shop.
Chef Victor Villa, the owner of Villa's Tacos, has revealed the heartwarming gesture Bad Bunny sent his cast ahead of his divisive Super Bowl show
Villa appears briefly at his taco stand and accepts a shaved ice treat from Bad Bunny
Victor spoke with The Daily Mail about his time appearing in Bad Bunny's highly-anticipated Super Bowl performance
'There's too much hate in the world. Enough with the hate. You should be spreading love. Our job is to be spreading love and that's what we should be doing.'
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Villa strives to infuse that message not through his everyday actions but into the food he serves.
'That's what I try to do every day, not only through my actions, through my words and my expressions, but through my food. I put a lot of love in our food.'
Villa even received a personal shout-out from Bad Bunny when the rapper stopped by rehearsals the day after his historic Grammys win.
'I haven't told anybody this, but... we were in Santa Clara, we were rehearsing, and he came, he was received with standing ovation by all the people in attendance.
'And I was one of the few ones where he came over and just like dabbed me up.'
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Villa was selected to appear in the Super Bowl after his friend, a casting director, reached out to him at the behest of Bad Bunny's team.
While his appearance in the show is comparatively brief, it is notable.
The show begins with Bad Bunny stopping by various vendors inside a sugarcane maze, with Villa's taco stand one of the establishments he drops by.
The rapper hands Villa a piragua - Puerto Rican shaved ice - which the restauranteur happily accepts.
Bad Bunny offers Villa a piragua - Puerto Rican shaved ice - as he makes his way through the sugarcane maze
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For Victor, his notable cameo was bigger than him
For Villa, the moment represented more than just the personal strides he has made but the sacrifices his family and community made to achieve the American Dream.
'I was there because of my parents,' he said when asked what the joyous moment meant amid political turbulence. 'In that moment, I wasn't only representing myself, I wasn't only representing these tacos, but I was representing those that came before me, those who see themselves in me, and me in them.
'For all the Mexican-Americans, all the Mexicans who immigrated to this country, to just live a better life and give their family a better life.
'Hard working and just good people that I know, like my dad, who are the hardest workers that I know and the best people that I know,' he said.
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'I was representing those who stood before me and who now I stand for.'
The taco shop has seen long lines since their notable Super Bowl cameo
Victor was cast in the show after his friend, a casting director, reached out to him at Bad Bunny's request
A line of hungry customers were present when The Daily Mail stopped by to conduct their interview
The show sparked controversy months before it ever occurred, but Bad Bunny offered a message of unity and love in a show celebrating his Puerto Rican heritage
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The star-studded celebration featured cameos by Cardi B, Pedro Pascal, and Lady Gaga
Ever since the Super Bowl aired, a long line of hungry customers has been standing outside of Villa's Tacos - an unusual sight on a weekday for the restaurant.
'We see them on the weekends, but it's a Wednesday, and it's been like this Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
'So this is definitely as a result of the halftime show, but thank God. We've been so blessed.'
Villa started selling tacos from his grandmother's house but now has multiple locations in Los Angeles and is now enjoying worldwide recognition thanks to Bad Bunny, yet he has never forgotten his restaurant's humble beginnings.
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'Every taco along the way led us to the Super Bowl.'