J Balvin Most Likely To Succeed

During the week as I prepared for this post, my thoughts went back to my high school years. I’m not entirely sure why, but perhaps it was because of some contact with a few childhood friends. While in high school, we are given a yearbook that highlights the times and events of that particular year. I thought about the awards given out for those most popular, most talented, most athletic. However, the big award is given to the students who are “most likely to succeed”. Now, stop for a minute and think about that title. Is it really possible to determine in high school who will succeed in life? To some extent yes. However, college and young adult years provide opportunity for a variety of changes in course and occupation. Our featured artist this week is a good example of one who took a long and winding road toward international stardom. This week Weekly Music Commentary features J Balvin.

I understand that Weekly Music Commentary is written in English, and for the most part features artists who perform in English. However, J Balvin is one of the most popular musical artists of today, therefore many will readily recognize his name and music, even if you are not fluent in Spanish. If you’re not familiar with him, I hope Weekly Music Commentary provides an adequate introduction.

José Álvaro Osorio Balvin was born May 7, 1985 in Medellín, Colombia. I heard him speak about some of the difficulties he experienced as a child. In fact, the family went through a bankruptcy and had to move to a poorer neighborhood while he was going to school in Colombia. On this period of his life, J Balvin notes, “When I would go to the barrio, people saw me as a rich person, but when I’m around rich people they see me as someone from the ghetto. It’s all perceptions. I like moving between worlds. I feel equally comfortable in both.”

J Balvin found a love for music as he played guitar in a band at eleven. He grew up listening to rock groups such as Metallica and Nirvana, and states that he incorporates the grunge aesthetic into his personal style, having a Nirvana tattoo on his knee. He also developed an interest in reggaeton after listening to Daddy Yankee. He recalls that “I was such a fan that I was copying his style, the way he moved onstage, his flows, his raps”.  Certainly he was provided a background for what he would later become. Does that mean he showed signs of becoming an international superstar as a youngster? Not really.

At age 17, J Balvin moved to the United States. He moved to Oklahoma and New York to learn English and was influenced by the music he heard there. When he moved to New York City to further study English and music, he lived with an aunt on Staten Island and working as a dog walker. He even spent some time working illegally as a roofer and a house painter to support himself. During this time he became fascinated by the business savvy of New York rappers 50 Cent and P. Diddy. Nevertheless he was not able to get a break into the music industry. While failing to find traction here, J Balvin said he received some sage advice: “Go back to your country, start from scratch, make your name and let your people take you to another level.”

J Balvin ultimately decided to return to Colombia and began performing at various urban clubs in Medellín and increasing his social media following. He enrolled at the prestigious EAFIT University in Medellín for seven semesters, studying international business. At age 19, he began to seriously pursue a career in music and adopted the stage name J Balvin “El Negocio”, meaning “The Business” in English. He met his DJ and business partner David Rivera Mazo in a freestyle battle on the street in Medellín. The two became fast friends and started producing and promoting their own music without a record label.

At this point the picture was getting a little clearer. Still, the name J Balvin and words “international star” seemed very far from each other. Of course Balvin was performing reggaeton, but it was nothing special at the time. In fact, the reggaeton scene was still developing with Balvin recording what many thought was poor imitations of commercial reggaeton from Puerto Rico. “For 10 years, I was my own label, my own promoter, my own PR,” says Balvin. “We borrowed money to print our CDs.” Soon J Balvin developed his own style, a more relaxed, minimalist style in his music. Things moved forward quickly after that.

J Balvin signed to EMI Colombia in 2009 and soon after released the single “Ella Me Cautivó”, which charted at number 35 on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart. He released his début album, Real, in 2009. In 2012, J Balvin released a mixtape featuring many of his early hits in Colombia, including “En Lo Oscuro” and “Como un Animal.” His first international hit was the one-night-stand-themed “Yo Te Lo Dije”, and signed with Universal subsidiary Capitol Latin a year later.

From this point J Balvin rose very quickly to a place he possibly only dreamed about. He released three more studio albums and worked with a long list of the top artists of today – Latin, Hip Hop and Pop Music. The awards have started to stack up as well. However, the major distinction came just last week.  J Balvin is the most streamed artist worldwide on Spotify. The digital platform made the official announcement on Monday morning (June 25). According to Billboard his recent single ‘X’ with Nicky Jam has already been streamed more than 327 million times.

J Balvin speaks fluent English and there has been speculation about him recording music in English in the future. He made a statement to answer such speculation and his future musical outlook. He explains, “I want to keep making history in Spanish. I want to invite the mainstream into my world, and to my sound, and to what I’m doing. And I want mainstream artists to respect me, and accept Latino artists as equals, without us having to sing in English. I want them to know that I can compete globally with whomever, in Spanish.”