The name J Balvin is known the world over. In less than a decade, the Colombian superstar rose to become a global purveyor of reggaeton music. Alongside names like Drake and The Weeknd, he was among the top five most-streamed artists on Spotify last year. Now, as a new father and with his self-titled album “José,” Balvin wants the world to know the man behind Latin music’s most colorful character.
“Right now I just want to be the happiest guy on the planet,” J Balvin says. “That’s not J Balvin. That’s José. I put J Balvin first for so long, so now I’m going to focus on myself, José.”
J Balvin was born José Álvaro Osorio Balvin in Medellín, Colombia. As a teenager, he grew up listening to the reggaeton music blowing up at the time through pioneers like Daddy Yankee, Tego Calderón and Don Omar. “I was like, ‘Wow, I wish I could be like [Daddy Yankee] someday,’” Balvin says. The genre was rooted in the Caribbean, in places like Panama and Puerto Rico, which was a far cry from Balvin’s country in South America. If you were looking to become the next reggaeton star,
