J Balvin Answers The Web's Most Searched Questions

Hey guys, this is J Balvin,

and this is the Wired Autocomplete Interview.

[upbeat music]

Right here, let go. J Balvin, man, Latino game.

[upbeat music continues]

Thank you.

Why did J Balvin start making music?

Ah, this is a good question.

If we go deep, deep, I start doing music

to help my dad on a big bankrupt that he had before.

So like, what talent do I have? How can I help my family?

So taking out the romantic on reality,

I wanted to help my family. so it was through music

that I can connect with the world,

but also help my dad through the bankruptcy.

Switch, mirror vibes. Okay, who are J Balvin and Maluma?

So many times, Maluma, they call him J Balvin,

and J Balvin, they call him Maluma,

you know what I'm saying? [laughs]

So we're both from Medellin, Colombia.

Maluma is more, sometimes he goes

kinda jumping more into pop.

I consider one of my friends in the industry.

He's like my little brother.

I have so much respect for him.

He just became a dad, like myself,

so this is like daddy gang.

J Balvin blonde.

One of my kind of branding was being all time,

my basic color was blonde all the time,

but then I was switching colors every week.

Now I have braids, so I just let it grow.

I let my hair breathe for a little bit

after 15 years dyeing my hair.

If you're looking for it, it's platinum blonde, not blonde.

J Balvin tattoos.

Oh, I lost count. I have so many tattoos.

Don't ask me why I have them, because I cannot be like,

oh, I did this because my story.

because I remember when I was nine.

I just love tattoos.

Sometimes, I see people trying to explain the reason

why they have a tattoo.

It's okay if they have it, it makes all sense,

but I have Mickey Mouse, I have Mario Bros. in my skin.

Why? Because I like it.

There's no story. I didn't grow up with them. [laughs]

What was J Balvin first song?

I'm so grateful, because I have a really beautiful family,

and when I say family is like the family that I chose,

which is my friends,

and they always been with me since day one.

I wrote a song for them, and at that time,

you never heard a reggaeton paying homage to your friends,

so that was my first song.

It wasn't famous, but that was my first song.

What is J Balvin real name?

My real name is Jose Arvalo Osorio Balvin.

Jose, not Jose.

Normally, people, they think that all Latinos

are called Jose, and it's not.

We have accentuation, so la tilde,

so some people are Jose, and some people are Jose.

I'm Jose.

What is J Balvin most popular song?

On a cultural level, Mi Gente is basically the fact

that a game changer where the world was like,

okay, what is this?

And by the way, it is really interesting,

because Mi Gente wasn't reggaeton,

so Willy William from French, he sent the beat,

and I'm like, I wanna kill it with this one.

It was so different.

It was a big risk, but big risk, big wins,

and this time, we won.

What does J Balvin like to do?

I love to drive cars kind of fast,

but now since I became a dad, everything changed.

The garbage truck, they passed me.

You understand? I'm so slow lately.

Thank you. So kind.

Does J Balvin, let me see, speak Spanish?

[J Balvin speaking Spanish]

Was J Balvin at Coachella with Beyonce?

That was my first Coachella, actually.

I received a call and it's like, oh just,

there's an invitation.

You just wanna call and join Beyonce at Coachella stage.

They didn't even say it, I was already jumping on a plane.

She's one of my idols,

and sometimes they say never meet your idols.

In this case, it was worth it.

J Balvin Coachella setlist.

I was a crazy setlist,

because we was very focused on people just to rave.

I do reggaeton, but I also like to jump

in different type of sounds,

like In da Getto with Skrillex.

So this setlist was more special on festival party songs,

In da Getto, it was Mi Gente, it was Colmillo.

We did a lot of songs.

J Balvin English songs.

I think I did one hook, an English hook,

for a soundtrack for Fast and the Furious

with Camila Cabello and Pitbull.

My mission was always dimensionales in Spanish,

and I think we accomplish it,

and I think this is just the beginning.

Thank you. J Balvin Ferrari.

Someone made up that I was doing a collab with Ferrari,

which I would love to, shout out Ferrari, I love you guys.

I'm a Ferrari collector, one of my biggest passion cars,

so once again, Ferrari, check me out.

J Balvin Los Angeles.

Los Angeles always been a beautiful place for me

when it comes to my fanbase.

It's been a while that having tour,

which by the way, we tour next year.

I can't wait to be in LA with you guys.

Los Angeles always showed me a lot of love.

Los Angeles, when it comes to a fanbase in US,

it's really special for me.

J Balvin Mi Gente lyrics.

What happened with Mi Gente lyrics

was that I was just concerned about how to unify people

through music, so Mi Gente, basically what I shared

in the song is like, no matter who you are, what you do,

if you have money, you don't have money, we're all the same.

The beat is just so crazy enough to catch the people,

and the melodies, and the hook is so easy.

♪ Donde esta mi gente ♪

It's easy.

When is J Balvin coming back to Fortnite?

I have my own skin in Fortnite, so my first one

was when I was doing the album Colores,

so it was a really colorful version of J Balvin

with the blonde hair that we said

and different rainbow colors, and on the second version,

I was in a mood that was just wearing black clothing,

but shout out to Fortnite.

Think we gotta come back with a new look with the braids.

J Balvin new song.

Doblexxo, because it's like double shot.

It's featuring Feid, another peer but person

that I love and respect from Medellin, Colombia.

It's a great reggaeton song.

We actually did it here in LA.

The video's crazy, super fire, super Colombian.

I'm driving kind of my first Volkswagen,

what happened at the beginning

with the Colombian flag inside, really ghetto,

the way we started it.

J Balvin outfits.

My biggest passion, and as Latino,

I always had my vision of, take us out of the box.

Before, it was like, oh, they were this way,

they dress this way, they talk this way.

We were born free, and we have the right

to express ourself in different ways,

so when it comes to outfits,

it's a way to express yourself without talking.

I feel cool.

J Balvin Pokemon card.

I did a collab with Pokemon,

and they gave me also a real special edition

of a Pokemon card that is just like,

I think it's three of us

that have a really special Pokemon card,

but if you tell me about which one is my favorite,

Charizard.

How to buy J Balvin Jordan 3s.

We did a great move with this,

because we wanted to fight the bots,

not doing them for the resell.

We're doing it for people to get them and to have them.

From Medellin, Columbia, we found a way to trick the bots,

and we charged them 25K per sneaker.

As you imagine, they all were crying to take the money back.

We send the real code for my fans to get the sneakers,

and they have them for the real price, and the bots,

well, they lost 25K.

Unfortunately, we have to be so legal in that way

that we gave the money back,

but it will be a good punishment for them to be like,

don't play with us, man.

This year, we just dropped the black ones,

which is in the name of my son, Rio,

and I think it's gonna be top three also, hopefully,

this year of sneakers, and shout out to Michael Jordan

and Reggie and the whole family

for always listening to this crazy guy

and have the dream to support,

because I'm the first Latino artist in history

to make this collab.

Is J Balvin Colombian?

[J Balvin speaking Spanish]

It's not Columbia with U.

No, that's Columbia Records, or that's something different.

Colombia. This, instead of a U, it's a O.

I'm from Medellin, Colombia.

I remember, I was in the south of France two weeks ago.

I was just talking with my friend,

and you just feel like a radar.

Colombians. Bradley, okay.

J Balvin Rayo. This is my new J Balvin season.

I've been in so different seasons in my life as an artist

that I have to reinvent myself

and keep connecting with the new generations.

Rayo was the name of my first car of Volkswagen from the 97

that my dad, he bought it for me with all the sacrifice.

Rayo means thunderbolt or lighting bolt, so that's my logo.

This is my first car, but this is my new season.

And the last one, Is J Balvin good live?

I'm great, and shout out to my vocal coach, Pepe.

I just started vocal coach this year.

If I was good live before, we're way better now.

This is the moment where you show who you are as an artist,

because yeah, I can say that, but you gotta go

and see the show, and you'll be like, yes, you are right.

Of course, when I'm in Columbia, that's hometown.

That's a huge party, but everywhere we go,

we do a huge party.

Well, guys, that was all the boards. That was really fun.

Thank you so much for the love.

Once again, my new album is out now, Rayo. Go check it.

Part of the Latino, and here we are. Let go. J Balvin, man.