Billboard cover star and iconic reggaeton artist, J Balvin shares the stories behind some of his biggest hits and collaborations, including "6 AM," “Ginza” "I Like It" with Cardi B & Bad Bunny, "LA CANCIÓN" with Bad Bunny, the "Mi Gente" remix featuring Beyoncé, Karol G on “Mi Cama” and more!
What’s your favorite J Balvin hit? Let us know in the comments!
What’s your favorite J Balvin hit? Let us know in the comments!
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MusicTranscript
00:00We did the Super Bowl. It was iconic, you know, like, Shakira, Bad Bunny, J Balvin, J-Lo.
00:08It's a great project with 6 IM. I remember Sky was with Farruko because that day, I don't
00:32know where I was, and they started the idea, Medellín, and when I came back, they showed
00:37me what they had, and I'm like, this is crazy. So I immediately, you know, start writing,
00:43and it feels like a hit since the first moment we recorded it.
01:07Reggaeton was kind of like disappearing for a second in U.S., and I was really concerned
01:22about it, but not just because U.S., in general, you know, and we did this song with Farruko.
01:28We recorded it in Medellín, and it was beautiful because that's basically when reggaeton got
01:34back in U.S. with a lot of power, and it was coming from Colombia. That's like a big thing.
01:44You know, as Colombia, it was a game-changing situation, you know, so beautiful moment.
01:51First number one in Billboard. Yeah, such a blessing.
02:05Willie Williams sent me the beat, and I heard him like, this is a hit. Like, let's go to the
02:15studio right now, and let's do this. I remember it was just too easy to make it. I wrote that
02:21in seconds because it just felt like I had a tattoo that says Mi Gente way before the song.
02:31It's crazy. That song changed our life on a whole different level because that's when
02:39my sound and our sound got on a real global scale, that it wasn't about Latinos no more
02:46since that day. A couple of weeks after I was the most listened artist on the planet,
02:53that was also a huge statement. I always wanted to take Latinos out of the box,
02:58always. That's always been my vision, and always going to be, and that's when I'm like,
03:04you see, we're global, and it's in Spanish because back in the days, you know,
03:11Latin artists, they had to make the crossover doing the same songs in English, which I respect.
03:18Maybe that was the necessity at that time, but I always knew I wanted to do it in Spanish, and
03:23it happened. It's crazy because I remember I was in the studio, and Melisa, shout out to Melisa,
03:30she was in the studio. Someone told me she was with Beyoncé as an assistant, and she said like,
03:36you have to just play your songs in Beyoncé house all the time, and Mi Gente is like,
03:41all the time. Lou was listening to that song like two million times, like,
03:46I don't know what we're going to do. I'm like, I know what we're going to do.
03:50Tell Beyoncé what's up, and then I received the call. It's like,
03:57Beyoncé is going to jump in the remix, and I just couldn't even believe that. She also
04:01rapped in Spanish, which is another beautiful statement, and then I performed with her at
04:06Coachella, which was another new statement because the first time a Latino, urban Latin
04:11artist doing Coachella, and I think it was the first time that an African-American female was
04:15performing in Coachella, too, so it was a beautiful moment for us as a minority
04:21to be together in the name of music, so what a beautiful moment because, like, I had the chance
04:27to talk to Beyoncé and see her human side, and, you know, sometimes I never meet your idols,
04:34but in this case, it was beautiful. We did the Super Bowl with JLo. Also, Shakira and Bad Bunny
04:41was there, so it was beautiful. It was a beautiful moment for the Latin culture. One of my most
04:46happiest days in my career and also in my life because I felt that, you know, and shout out to
04:54Jay-Z also because, like, he always had the vision and made culture and statement moves, and
05:02it was definitely one, and it was crazy. It also was crazy that I knew six months before,
05:07and it was a top secret, so, like, not even to my mom. I just kept it for myself. I'm like,
05:15and it was beautiful with JLo. She behaved like a queen with me. I'm never gonna forget that she
05:23sent me flowers after the show, and I went to the hotel. I just cannot believe this. It was iconic,
05:30you know, like, Shakira, Bad Bunny, J Balvin, JLo. That was crazy,
05:37but listen, I think we have to unlock a new Super Bowl, a reggaeton one. Yes.
05:46I'm a visionary. Check that out.
05:48So, we were in Miami. I think we were recording Oasis at that time with Bad Bunny.
06:05They sent us the song, and
06:09we love it, and we immediately record, and I remember that I went to the president of
06:16her label, and they pick another single, and I'm like, guys, I think you're making a mistake.
06:27When the album came out, they drop another single, and then I received a call, like,
06:33two days after, like, you were right. That's the single. I told you. I'm not gonna come to your
06:39office just to say this is the single. It's because I really felt that it was gonna be,
06:43and that was our first Hot 100. Crazy. Cardi was pregnant, and nobody knew,
06:51so we knew, but not the public, you know, so she had, like, a big dress and everything,
06:56so, like, it was cool to be like, we have a secret here. Cardi, Benito, and myself.
07:01It's a great, great moment.
08:01I hated it. It was just, like, kind of, like, funny to me.
08:31You know what? This is good. Shout out to J Balvin, and Sky, and the whole family, and Faith.
08:38All the artists that I dream to work with, you know, listen, that was, like, when
08:44when a lot of artists started, you know, asking for features and things like that,
08:48which was, like, crazy to me, so I was like, you know what? Like, I gotta give joy to my inner kid,
08:55and let's bring all these guys that I always dream to work with in one song, and
09:01it was so beautiful. I couldn't even believe that. Fab Gianchi, Sion,
09:08Chandel, Yiki, Arca, you know, the whole squad. So, there's two remixes.
09:23There's the Spanish one, and the Portuguese one with Amita. She DMed me on Instagram,
09:30and I already knew about her, but I think she was in Spain. Like, oh, I'm listening to your song
09:35right here in Spain. It's crazy, you know? I'm like, oh, thank you. Like, she's like,
09:39let's do a remix, and I say, of course. You know, like, I always like to cooperate with,
09:44collab with different cultures, and I have so much respect for Amita, because she's definitely
09:49a big boss.
10:50That's when we came up with our first logo with the Thunderbolt and the smiley with Milkon,
11:08a great creative director from Mexico. So, in Energías, when we found, like, our aesthetic
11:15of how we wanted to market our brand, you know, on every way, musically and visually.
11:32I was in LA. Will.i.am invited me to his studio. He showed me the song,
11:46and I immediately wrote it. I recorded it, and that was beautiful, because that was kind of like
11:52a comeback for Black Eyed Peas, and making part of that, because I love Black Eyed Peas. Like,
11:59I grew up listening to everything. So, that was a beautiful moment, and then we shot the video
12:06in Turks and Caicos. We're calling Tilly the director, and Will.i.am is someone that I admire
12:12a lot. She's such a visionary. It's not just music, it's technology. He's a great entrepreneur,
12:18and it's more than a pleasure to work with Will.
12:48It's going to be written in the reggaeton books. I'm sure about that.
13:18But we enjoyed it a lot, and the song was here in New York, in a theater, in a bar theater,
13:25and yeah. I remember that the song came out a lot for me, because I was in a moment that,
13:29like, I broke up with my girl. Like, I had broken up with her, so I was sad, and it made a lot of
13:35sense to sing the song and record the video. It was a great project. First time,
13:44two artists from a different country worked together on a reggaeton project,
13:50and, you know, we made this for the culture. And we did this album really fast. We did it in Miami,
13:58his team, my team, our people, and the vibe was so beautiful. You know, it was never done before.
14:05One Puerto Rican and one Colombian doing an album together on a really great moment for Latinos to
14:13keep elevating the bar. That only happened one time, and that's a statement, Oasis.
14:32Carol called me, and she said, like, she wants me in the remix, and of course I never have a
14:37no for her, so since day one, whatever she needs, I'm always gonna be for her. You know, so she asked
14:45me, and of course, yeah, I said, yes, let's go, and I think she asked Nikki, and then I was like,
14:51hey, Nikki, we together again. We have a lot of fun, because, like, we were supposed to do
14:56something, but me and Nikki are, like, two kids, so we're, like, just, like, fooling around the
15:01whole video, but it came out amazing. I knew she was gonna make it. I knew it. You can see in her eyes
15:09the passion she talks about, what she wanted, and I knew the struggle she had,
15:17because she had to struggle a lot. Every hundred years, you know, there's one artist that came up,
15:22and it's, like, wow, right? It feels like she's, like, that artist,
15:26but it took her a lot of time to be what she had. What I'm saying is, like, it's absolutely self-made.
15:40That album was so special. We made the whole album here in New York. We always wanted to work
15:45with Tiny, because we met Tiny when we were doing Energía in LA with Jandel, so we were both, again,
15:53me and Sky were starstruck, and I'm, like, guys, this is an amazing album. This is gonna be,
15:59the name is gonna be Víveras. So, yeah, all the features we have. Yeah, Tiny Lennox, we have
16:06Rosalía, you know, we knew she was gonna be one of the greatest. Anita with Mágica,
16:13which in the end, of course, is peligrosa. Yeah, but Víveras also, and it had a beautiful,
16:19minimalistic color that really changed the whole vibe and set the bar of, like, what we wanted.
16:26I remember Virgil, Evo, rest in peace. He came to me once. It was, like, a fashion event. He came
16:34to me. He's, like, how does it feel to have the coolest album cover of the year? I'm, like, oh,
16:39mind if you say it? Mission accomplished.
16:43Ed Sheeran, I met him in New York. I was in the gym, and I'm, like, is that Ed Sheeran?
17:10And I was, like, checking, like, his tattoos on Instagram, and left tattoo, and I said,
17:16Sheeran. And Ed Sheeran was also doing the same. He was looking for my tattoos the right side,
17:22because he was, he, like, looked back, and he was looking my right side. So, when he was on the way
17:27out, he's, like, Jay, and I'm, like, Ed? And, like, oh, you know, finally we met, you know,
17:32honored meeting you and everything, and then we had coffee. We went, talk about life. We didn't
17:38talk about music, and then we kept talking through email, because, you know, he don't use a cell
17:46phone. He uses an email. So, one day he was in New York. I'm, like, let's do something, and
17:53he was so great about it. So, we went to the studio. We recorded two songs, and after that,
17:58then I'm, like, I remember I was in Colombia, and I'm, like, bro, like, we have two songs,
18:02but then we do, like, one more, and we, like, drop, like, a little EP. He's, like, man, well,
18:08it's better we make an album, and I'm, like, what? So, we have, like, 20 songs already.
18:15Hopefully, when I drop that next year, and it's a person that I love and admire him.
18:21It's cool to see him singing in Spanish, and in the album, it's a lot of him in Spanish,
18:28but also in English, too. It's, like, the best of both worlds. We're recording the studio in
18:32Paris, so it's a great project, and I think that's going to be the first time that something
18:37happened like that, too. You know, like, a Latino artist with, you know, English and Spanish, you
18:44know, UK and Colombia. It's never done before, so I love to do things that I've never done before.
18:59We shot the video in Italy, but I received the song when I was in Medellín, so I recorded the
19:04song. They told me all the guys were going to be in the song. When they tell me what artists are,
19:12they're, like, I normally don't ask, you know, like, and they told me, like, that's great. I respect all of
19:17them, and they're great, so let's do it, and when I was on tour in Sardinia, and, I mean, in Europe,
19:23even in Italy, I received a call from Unreal Steam, so, like, you know, like, we need to shoot this video,
19:28and I'm, like, man, I'm in Italy. That's the only way you guys come to where I'm staying, and I can be part
19:34of, like, I want to be there, guys, but I'm in Italy, so I'm all yours, but you gotta come here to
19:42to Sardinia, and they send the production team, and so when you watch the video, check it. You're, like,
19:49it's one world, and the other one is when I showed up, but definitely a beautiful moment, great song.
20:04Gion, an artist from Aruba, he sent me the beat. I immediately started writing. I wrote the song,
20:24and I just, like, you know what? This is for Nicki. This is, like, this is for Nicki, like,
20:31I want Nicki to have this song, and I sent it to him. He loved it, and then the rest is history.
20:39Remember, we did a real book cover together. People never saw that before, of, like, that,
20:45the competition really getting along. It's kind of weird, kind of weird more in our genre, so
20:52I just brought my vibe, my Colombian vibe, and he, he brought also a really beautiful energy,
20:59and we create this beautiful team, and since then, we're really close friends. I love Nicki
21:07Gion with my whole heart. I love to see my people winning. Aki's music video, the choreographer,
21:15you know, she came up with the idea of the dance, and once again, me and Nicki making jokes,
21:21everything was jokes and jokes, jokes and jokes, director going crazy, but also laughing with us.
21:27I cherish that moment because, like, we knew it was going to be a beautiful project.
21:38So, like, now that, like, I'm filming this new album, and I'm basically feel like I'm a new
21:45artist, and I'm enjoying those moments that I didn't enjoy that much at that time because,
21:51let's say, everything was just, it's been 12 years non-stop, if I'm not mistaken,
21:56with a lot of number one through my whole career and even statements, but I feel that
22:02it went too fast, and it seems that I didn't enjoy the way I should. This is the best moment
22:08that you can make me those questions because, like, it really makes me value even more what
22:12I have done for the culture. So, thank you for those questions.