• On March 19, Colombian reggaeton singer J Balvin released his new album, Colores.
  • J Balvin also released a new video for the album's title track, "Amarillo."
  • The reggaetonero said his mission for the album is to "give color, hope, and happiness."

If you don’t speak Spanish, J Balvin’s music is reason enough to give that years-old Rosetta Stone tutorial another shot. At 34, the Colombian-born, Spanish-speaking reggaeton singer is among the most influential Latino artists changing the way the top-10 charts across America sound. And with his newest album, Colores, Balvin is sure to build on that momentum.

Colores was set to release on Friday, March 20, but on Thursday evening, Balvin surprised fans by releasing it early alongside a new video for the album's title track, "Amarillo" and a new playlist experience with Spotify that doubles as a guided meditation based on Balvin's favorite colors and energies. "The only mission for this album is to give color, hope, [and] happiness because music is life," the reggaetonero said on Instagram.

Yes, almost all of the songs on Colores are named after Spanish words for different colors ("amarillo" is yellow). Balvin told the Miami New Times that this was a way "to continue uplifting our Latin culture, our art, our lifestyle, our music, reggaeton, everything."

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Colores is Balvin's first full-length album since he released Vibras in 2018, which featured mega-hit "Mi Gente" and was named one of Rolling Stone's Top 10 Latino Albums of that year. Since then, Balvin has crossed further into the mainstream: He performed "Que Pretendes" off his joint EP with Bad Bunny, OASIS, at the 2019 MTV Music Awards, and he joined Jennifer Lopez on stage for her Super Bowl halftime show with Shakira this past February.

Not to mention his song "Con Altura" with Spanish singer Rosalía won Best Urban Song at the 2019 Latin GRAMMYs. Even President Barack Obama had it on his Summer 2019 playlist. If he's good enough for President Obama, he's good enough for us—here's what else you need to know about J Balvin.

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J Balvin was born and raised in Colombia.

Born in Medellín, Colombia, Balvin—whose full name is actually José Álvaro Osorio Balvin—moved to the United States when he was 18, landing in Oklahoma and later moving to Staten Island, New York. According to The Guardian, his father was a businessman in Colombia, and he grew up quite privileged—but still privy to violence as a result of the country’s drug wars.

“Medellín is basically where evil was born...I was aware of the violence since birth. That was made part of your reality even if you weren’t part of that life. Kidnappings and massacres, we grew up listening to that every day,” he told The Guardian. "But it’s beautiful to see how the city is right now. After hell, the only way you can go is to heaven and that’s what happened in my city. It’s such a beautiful place, people are so positive; everyone wants to help each other.”

J Balvin Visits Music Choice
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Balvin's biggest songs include “Mi Gente,” “I Like It,” “6 AM,” and “Ay Vamos.”

J Balvin basically makes positive party music that’ll make you want to dance. So far, he’s released seven studio album, and his singles have helped him break global records, putting him in the same category as Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Ed Sheeran when it comes to popularity. In fact, a whopping four of his music videos have over 1 billion YouTube views.

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In 2018, J Balvin became the most streamed artist worldwide on Spotify, racking up over 48 million monthly listeners worldwide. (Drake previously held the title.) So what songs have helped him achieve his success? While he’s dominated the Billboard Latin Pop Airplay chart with 21 number one songs (“Blanco," "No Me Conoce," "La Canción," and "Baila Baila Baila," for example), American fans are likely most familiar with his mainstream successes on Billboard's Hot 100 chart: "RITMO (Bad Boys for Life)" with The Black Eyed Peas, “Mi Gente” with Willy William (plus a remix with Beyoncé), and a feature on Cardi B’s “I Like It."

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Yes, he’s the rapper Beyoncé brought on stage at Coachella.

Queen Bey shared the 2018 Coachella spotlight with her former Destiny’s Child superstars Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland, but she also shined some attention on Balvin. Together, they brought their remix of “Mi Gente" to the masses live. When the artists first released the song in 2017, they donated the proceeds to Hurricane relief efforts throughout the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.

2018 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival - Weekend 2 - Day 2
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“Today is a very special day,” Balvin wrote a year after their performance, when he was invited back to Coachella's main stage for his very own set. “I always said the day I went to Coachella would be on a raised platform and so it is. Last year, I was with Beyoncé, today it’s about Latinos and dreamers. It’s about people like me, who are not afraid to follow their dreams and it’s about all those people that are called different. We still need people to continue to call us crazy for being dreamers. Welcome to another chapter of my adventures.”


J Balvin is worth, uh, a lot.

While his rumored net worth is in the millions, his profile in The Guardian alludes to the fact that when it comes to money and his expenses, the sky’s the limit. In the piece, the writer points to the fact that J Balvin flies in a private jet reportedly worth $4 million—and that he has a butler named Max. Not to mention he rented a summer home on Sardinia in addition to his Medellín home, which is filled with the artwork of Takashi Murakami and KAWS.

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He’s been open about his experiences with depression and anxiety.

In the same interview with The Guardian, he explained that financial stress earlier in his career put him in a dark place. “I let people do what they wanted to do,” he said of when he first started to experience anxiety. “It’s the heart, the feeling that you’re out of your body, the feeling that you’re not conscious of your breath; that’s the worst part. And of course this emptiness here…I’ve been through that and it’s hell, it’s really hard.”

He moved on to say that he consequently experienced depression, “the worst time” in his life. “That’s a lack of information about depression. There’s one thing—being sad—which is emotional, the other thing is depression, which is a chemical thing in your brain. Depression is some different kind of monster that you cannot deal with if you don’t have the right medication,” he said.


There are rumors J Balvin is dating Valentina Ferrer.

61st Annual GRAMMY Awards - Inside
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The singer made a splash at the 2019 Grammys when he arrived hand in hand with Valentina Ferrer, a model and Miss Argentina 2014. Last summer, the New York Post reported that Balvin is “crazy in love” with her, months after they made a joint appearance at the Ovadia & Songs fashion show in New York.

In August, Balvin dedicated a throwback photo to his ex-girlfriend of 10 years, journalist Maria Osorio. In Spanish he wrote, “Happy birthday! To the one who was my girlfriend for ten years, you saw in me what very few people could see, you put up with things that very few couple put up with, and today I can now call you my best friend,” he wrote.


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