J Balvin, Bulletin boardIts current cover star, talk to me Bulletin boardchief content officer Leila Cobo for a Superstar Q&A on Wednesday (October 16) during Billboard Latin Music Week 2024. He spoke about his vision for the future of reggaeton, the power of collaborations and the importance of supporting each other in difficult times.
Here are the ten best quotes from the Colombian superstar:
For A great day with J Balvin: “[The series] it's really sharing with artists, public figures and taking them out of their comfort zone. Talking about things that no artist normally talks about – their fears, their worries. I don't know how I did it, but I was able to get a lot of information from them about their spiritual and mental health. With Jimmy Butler, Demi Lovato, Anitta and Brooklyn Beckham.”
About working with new talent: “Since I started [my career] I've always loved working with new artists. It's not something that only happens in this phase of my life. [When I started] I always wanted the opportunity that gave me that thrill to work together [established] artists who could allow people to know me. So I want it to happen to others, so they can join this dream of raising their careers. to act as a medium, without any interest in absorbing what they do.'
About Latino Gang: “My mindset wasn't just about José or J Balvin, but the general Latin culture, with the Latino Gang. That our civilization continues to rise, that we are present, that in places where before we did not have the opportunity to sit, now [are seated at the table].”
Explosion of Latin Music: “Now there is a movement in Colombia with artists from different urban genres, trap, drill, dancehall, afrobeats, reggaeton. Now there really is a movement. Before in Colombia there were very few. The first people who had the opportunity to take this exhibition in the United States … at first I was alone. Not because I was the best. simply because I was working and they allowed me to be one of the first to open the door for reggaeton [in the United States].”
About Karol G's friend: “Carolina is a person to be admired and respected greatly. I had the opportunity to see her whole process, all her patience and endurance to endure until her time finally came. I always thought this moment would come, and she knows it, and I think she's just started. There is much more to do. She is definitely the woman who strongly empowers everyone, not just women, but all people who dream and say it can be done.”
About Colombian reggaetón: “We didn't have a map, but we had a desire. Apparently reggaeton came from Puerto Rico. [In Colombia] we had Juanes, Carlos Vives, Shakira, but in the end it's a completely different genre. We are missing a reggaeton artist to represent Colombia. We don't have one. And I saw the opportunity to achieve it.”
For the fall of: “After that storm that fell upon me, that earthquake, here we are, stronger and more mature than before. We've had so many #1s non-stop, for a long time. I felt like, I was laughing, “why is all this happening to them and nothing is happening to me?” And then when it happened to me, I was like, “Oh! Okay, I wasn't the exception, it happens to me too.' And this learning served me a lot, helped me learn who my friends are and who are not, to give myself more to my family, my wife, my closest friends, accompanying me in the hour of darkness.”
About his latest album Rayo: “Thank God, that I can make music, not out of necessity, like we did before, but to be able to do it from another angle and from another situation. It allowed me to connect with that inner child and enjoy the music without caring if it sells or not, but what makes me happy.”
On Coachella, Aliens and Will Smith: “I've always been very big on alien life, it makes me very curious. And I, wanting to revive my inner child, decided on this idea. I explained to Will Smith, artist to artist, that the alien was part of the original concept. We both had our problems. A man's greatness cannot be overshadowed by a few mistakes. I'm not going to judge Will Smith for his mistake. You cannot erase the legacy left by man.”
Latin Music Week coincides with the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards airing at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 20, on Telemundo. It will be available simultaneously on Universo, Peacock and the Telemundo app and in Latin America and the Caribbean via Telemundo Internacional
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/j-balvin-interview-billboard-latin-music-week-2024-1235803441/
