J Balvin

J Balvin
J Balvin in 2014
Background information
Birth name	José Álvaro Osorio Balvin
Born	(1985-05-07) May 7, 1985 Medellín, Colombia
Genres	Reggaeton hip hop
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Capitol Latin Universal
Associated acts	Nicky Jam Farruko Daddy Yankee Justin Bieber Anitta Major Lazer MØ Juan Gabriel Arcángel Boy Wonder
Website	jbalvin.com

José Álvaro Osorio Balvin (born May 7, 1985), known artistically as J Balvin, is a Colombian reggaeton singer. Balvin was born in Medellín, Colombia.^[1]

Success

Balvin began seeking his career at the young age of 14. When Balvin was 17, he moved to Oklahoma to learn English. After some difficulties, he quickly moved to New York City to further his studies in English and in music. Over the next 10 years, J Balvin worked very hard between the United States and Colombia to develop his style and career. He quickly began to move around the urban scene in Medellín, Colombia, performing at many night clubs. In 2012, J Balvin released his mixtape, which featured many of his early hits in Colombia, including "En Lo Oscuro" and "Como un Animal." Soon after, J Balvin released his next single "Yo Te Lo Dije". In 2013, the track had created a considerable buzz in the United States, and put J Balvin on many DJ and industry radars. His performance at the 2013 Premios Juventud was just the beginning to what was about to come.

In the spring of 2014, J Balvin released a new track entitled "6 AM", featuring Puerto Rican singer Farruko. The song exploded onto radio in the United States, Latin America, and even Europe. "6 AM" had truly put J Balvin at the forefront of reggaeton, and to many is thought as the song that re-ignited the current reggaeton revolution led by artists such as himself, Nicky Jam, Maluma, Farruko, and legends Daddy Yankee, Wisin & Yandel, and Don Omar. The song peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart, blocked by "Bailando" from hitting the top of the chart. This track gained him the worldwide attention of everyone. His album La Familia had also skyrocketed to the top of the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart.

Shortly after, J Balvin released his second track in the United States, "Ay Vamos", which solidified his mark in the Latin urban market.^[2] This was a bonus track on the deluxe edition of J Balvin's album La Familia B Sides. The music video is one of the most watched Latin music videos of all time, at over one billion views. The song went to number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart in 2015. The remix, featuring Nicky Jam and French Montana was used in the soundtrack to the film Furious 7. J Balvin performed the track at the 2015 Premios Lo Nuestro and the Billboard Latin Music Awards. J Balvin has been featured on remixes of "The Way" and "Problem" by Ariana Grande, "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, "Maps" by Maroon 5, and "Stuck on a Feeling" by Prince Royce.^[3] J Balvin was the first Colombian singer to record with "The Prince of Bachata" and establishing itself as an international artist.^[4]

J Balvin swept the urban category at the 2015 Premios Lo Nuestro, including "Urban Artist of the Year", "Urban Album of the Year", "Urban Song of the Year" and "Urban Collaboration of the Year". On February 12, the nominees for the Billboard Latin Music Awards were announced, and J Balvin was nominated 13 times, of these nominations, eight were in the same category twice "Ay Vamos" and "6 AM", being the most nominated Colombian and the first urban artist from Colombia. J Balvin won New Artist, Latin Rhythm Song of the Year, and Latin Rhythm Song Artist of the Year, where he dedicated the award to his home country of Colombia.^[5]

In June 2015, it was announced that J Balvin cancelled his performance on Miss USA 2015 to protest Donald Trump's inflammatory comments insulting illegal immigrants.^[6][7][8] His live performance was scheduled for July 12, 2015 in Louisiana. "During [Trump's] presidential campaign kickoff speech last week [June 2015], Trump accused illegal immigrants of bringing drugs, crime and rapists to the U.S."^[9][10] This would have been J Balvin's first performance on national mainstream television.^[11] J Balvin also began the #LatinosSomosUnidos movement through social media, to bring awareness to the struggles occurring on the Venezuelan-Colombian border. His campaign brought support from many of the major Latin artists.

On January 16, J Balvin premiered his new single "Ginza" from his upcoming album, at the Premios Juventud. Later that week, he premiered the music video on Vevo. The music video broke the record for the most views for a Latin music video in the first 24 hours, at over two million views. Since then, the video has racked up close to 60 million views in six weeks. The song has had tremendous success in Latin America and the United States, reaching number one on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart for the week of October 17, 2015.^[12] J Balvin became the first artist to receive a diamond certification in the Latin field from the RIAA, denoting digital sales of 600,000 units for his songs "6 AM" and "Ay Vamos".^[13] On February 16, he performed "Ginza" at the Italian Festival of Sanremo.

Tours

Opening act:

• Sex and Love Tour (2014)

Headlining:

• La Familia Tour with Becky G (2015)

Discography

• Real (2009)
• El Negocio (2011)
• J Balvin Mix Tape (2012)
• La Familia (2013)
• La Familia B Sides (2014)
• Energía (2016)
• Ninja (TBA)

Tour

J Balvin was on tour in the United States and Canada with Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull.

In May 2015, it was announced that J Balvin and Becky G will embark on a co-headlining North American tour on September 23 at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida. The tour was scheduled to finish at Humphreys Concerts By The Bay in San Diego, California on October 25.^[14][15] The tour will continue and wrap up in late October and early November with several dates in Colombia, however most of the dates were cancelled due to poor tickets sales, with only Medellín and Bogota show, the latter moved to a smaller venue, were presented.^[16]

Collaborations

• "Pa la Tumba" (featuring Hector El Father)
• "Inalcanzable" (featuring Golpe a Golpe)
• "Se Aloca" (featuring Reykon)
• "Quisiera" (Remix) (featuring Pasabordo)
• "Como Tu No Hay Dos" (Remix) (featuring Buxxi)
• "Regalame Un Muack" (Remix) (featuring Chino & Nacho)
• "Eso Es Amor" (Remix) (featuring Alkilados)
• "Con Flow Mátalo" (featuring Reykon, Jay y El Punto, Maluma, Kevin Roldan and Dragon & Caballero)
• "Mi Único Tesoro" (featuring Jhonny Rivera)^[17]
• "Mi Declaración" (featuring Peter Manjarres)^[18]
• "Mi Dama Colombia" (Remix) (featuring Jowell & Randy, Pipe Calderón and Pipe Bueno)
• "Soltera" (featuring Zion & Lennox and Alberto Style)
• "Solo Tu" (Remix) (featuring Zion & Lennox and Nicky Jam)
• "Si Tu No Estas" (Remix) (featuring Cosculluela, Ñejo & Dalmata, Farruko and J Alvarez)
• "Despacio" (featuring Nicky Jam, Tony Dize and Ñengo Flow)
• "Blurred Lines" (featuring Robin Thicke)
• "Maps" (featuring Maroon 5)
• "Mal De Amores" (Remix) (featuring Juan Magan)
• "Problem" (featuring Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea)^[19]
• "The Way" (featuring Ariana Grande)
• "Sorry" (featuring Justin Bieber)
• "Tu Protagonista" (Remix) (featuring Messiah, Nicky Jam and Zion & Lennox)^[20]
• "Mars" (Latin Urban Remix) (featuring Jay Sean and Rick Ross)
• "I Want Cha" (featuring Xonia)^[21]
• "Translation" (featuring Vein and Belinda)
• "Cola Song" (featuring Inna)^[22][23]
• "Orgullo" (Remix) (featuring Justin Quiles)^[24]
• "Travesuras" (Remix) (featuring Nicky Jam, De La Ghetto, Zion and Arcángel)
• "Tu Sombra" (featuring Jencarlos Canela)^[25]
• "Bebe Conmigo" (featuring Farruko)
• "Stuck on a Feeling" (Spanish) (featuring Prince Royce)^[26][27]
• "La Frontera" (featuring Juan Gabriel and Julion Alvarez)
• "Sorry" (Latino Remix Spanish) (featuring Justin Bieber)
• "Lean On" (Spanish) (featuring Major Lazer, DJ Snake, MØ and Farruko)
• "Ginza" (Anitta Remix) (featuring Anitta)
• "Love Is the Name" (featuring Sofia Carson)

Accolades

Latin Grammy Award

A Latin Grammy Award is an accolade by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry.^[28]

Premios Lo Nuestro

MTV Europe Music Awards

Latin Music Italian Awards

Premios Nuestra Tierra

A Premio Nuestra Tierra is an accolade that recognize outstanding achievement in the Colombian music industry. J Balvin has received two awards from four nominations.^[29]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to J Balvin.

• Official website