S1: Hey there. I'm Osman Farooqui and this is The Drop,
S1: a culture show from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age,
S1: where we dive into the latest in the world of
S1: pop culture and entertainment. It's another special week on the drop.
S1: We've got two episodes coming out on Thursday. I'll be back,
S1: as usual, with Thomas and Mel to break down the
S1: new season of The Bear and talk a bit more
S1: about the enormous reaction to Bobby and Oppenheimer. But today
S1: I'm really excited to bring you an interview with one
S1: of the biggest musicians on the planet, Colombian pop superstar J. Balvin.
S2: La cabeza Como es mi musica. No, this give me
S2: some wherever I go.
S1: Music Balvin has sold more than 35 million albums. He's
S1: collaborated with Beyonce, gone to number one with Cardi B
S1: and is currently working on a new album with Ed Sheeran,
S1: plus a new solo record. He's known as the Prince
S1: of Reggaeton for the influence he's had on bringing Spanish
S1: language music to the West. And he was in Australia
S1: this week for his first local tour. He very generously
S1: found the time to come hang out with me in
S1: the studio. J. Balvin, Welcome to the show. Thank you
S1: so much.
S3: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it, man. Happy to
S3: be here. And super grateful.
S1: Right now in 2023, reggaeton and Latin music generally, it's
S1: one of the biggest genres in the world. And you
S1: yourself have sold tens of millions of records. You've got
S1: billions of streams on YouTube and Spotify, but it wasn't
S1: always like that, right? I want to ask you a
S1: bit about the start of your career and what the
S1: the landscape was like for an artist, you know, from
S1: South America making Latin music.
S3: Yeah. I mean, you know, the, you know, reggaeton basically
S3: started in Puerto Rico, you know, and let's say I
S3: was the outsider because I'm from Colombia. So I kind
S3: of like I went against all the odds because it
S3: was like, why this guy is doing reggaeton? You know
S3: why he's doing reggaeton? Like you got to be from
S3: Puerto Rico to to do reggaeton. And I was like, well,
S3: you know, it seems like football was born in, in,
S3: you know, in UK. And we got amazing players from Colombia, Brazil, Argentina,
S3: you know, not, you know, who's the who's the winners
S3: of the World Cup Argentina's now, you know, so it's
S3: like I saw a big opportunity instead of being like, oh,
S3: it's going to be hard for me, I was like, Well,
S3: I'm going to be the only one. But it took
S3: the time. It took time, of course, you know, through
S3: the different platforms. But, you know, YouTube was the the
S3: big thing at that time. But we also had like
S3: Myspace right before and all this to, you know, to
S3: share our music. But it was definitely tough, you know,
S3: because like, people thought that it was just going to
S3: be like a movement or a jam. I just want
S3: to be just like from one day to another and
S3: just like gone, right? And it's the opposite, you know,
S3: It just kept growing and growing and growing more. So yeah,
S3: of course, the fact that I was the outsider wasn't easier.
S3: But it makes me special, you know, in comparison to
S3: the rest. And then I think we opened the market
S3: for the new artists from our country. And also I
S3: think we, you know, we give a lot of hope
S3: from to the artists, from another countries to be like, okay,
S3: they can do it from Colombia now. We can do
S3: it in Argentina, we can do it in Spain, we
S3: can do it from different parts of the world. So
S3: it's beautiful, man, because, you know, but I can just
S3: I just can say that it was us because there's
S3: a lot of already paved the way for us maybe before.
S1: Who are the kind of artists you were listening to
S1: or being influenced by when you were starting to make music?
S3: Oh, well, it depends, you know, if it's in Spanish
S3: or it's in English, you know, if it was in
S3: English when I started was just like Nirvana, Metallica, offspring,
S3: you know, you were.
S1: Covering Smells Like Teen Spirit. I remember.
S3: Yeah, absolutely. That's that's, that's my thing. Yeah. I used
S3: to do that that song on my, on my shows
S3: doing a cover. So I get inspired by a lot
S3: of rock music, you know, some heavy metals. But then
S3: hip hop, you know, Jay-Z, Nas, 50 Cent, Eminem, all
S3: these ideas, you know, inspired me a lot. But when
S3: it comes to Latin music, well, we have like from
S3: Juan Luis Guerra to, you know, Daddy Yankee.
UU: Sony come in my family. Now we come to us
UU: solely call me by your name.
S3: Which is the The Godfather of, you know, he's the
S3: one who created. So he also was the one who
S3: put the name like a ton. Yeah. So it's beautiful. So, yeah,
S3: they all inspired me a lot. And that's where I'm
S3: at right now. But they paved the way for us.
S3: You know, I think the timing was perfect for us.
S3: You know, now on this global, you know, scene that
S3: we have now.
S1: I want to ask you about that moment when you
S1: mentioned these artists that have been making amazing music for
S1: a long time, but the only time that artists singing
S1: in Spanish really crossed over into the US, into Western
S1: audiences was when they did have English language hits. But
S1: I think that changed a lot in the 20 tens.
S3: It changed because, you know, I was I was like,
S3: you know, I'm not going. I say, I'm not going
S3: to do my my songs two times like one in
S3: English and and another in French and another in Portuguese
S3: and another one, I don't know, you know, in aerobic.
S3: If if one just like to cross over, I'll drive
S3: me crazy, you know, And it's not going to be
S3: the same feeling because like, it's not the same one.
S3: You recorded it in your own language. The language that
S3: you know, like, what are you saying and how are
S3: you saying it? And also you have the right slang. Well,
S3: I wasn't like, I'm not going to do nothing else.
S3: Just like that. I'm going to keep it real to myself.
S3: And I want to do just Spanish. Yeah. And you're crazy.
S3: How are you going to cross over? Like you guys
S3: never going to have, like, a hard number one song
S3: in Billboard? And I was like, Well, let's see, you know?
S3: And we did it with Cardi B and Bad Bunny
S3: like a couple of years ago. Jumble, jumble. I'm bad.
S4: On no. How long do.
UU: Your Lambo I mean go long I spent in the club.
UU: Well you have been to back.
S3: And I was like you see what you see guys.
S3: It was possible. You know it takes the time seeing
S3: happen with me and you know that we reached the song,
S3: you know, number one song, World.
S1: Streams on YouTube so quickly.
S3: Yes. And then, you know, and then we then, you know,
S3: we we also did the most listened artists in the world.
S3: And and that's past. That's something that we have done.
S3: But I'm focusing on what's next, you know. But that's
S3: how we prove that is the time. You know, I
S3: was like, I'm not going to do nothing in English.
S3: There's nothing I have nothing against on it. It just
S3: that I wanted to keep real what I said since
S3: I started. Yeah. And it's happening.
S1: I want to ask you about what's coming because I
S1: know you're working on a very exciting record, but just
S1: just before we get to that kind of the era
S1: that you're in at the moment, I'm really interested on
S1: your perspective as to what was happening then in the
S1: 20 tens that made music that was in Spanish received
S1: such a more receptive audience in the US, which traditionally hadn't.
S3: I think also the new generations are way more open minded,
S3: you know, and they're like more curious. And also they
S3: have new platforms that let them find new artists and
S3: they need.
S1: To discover new.
S3: Sounds exactly. Which make it easy, but also make it harder.
S3: It's like a duality right there because it's like, yeah,
S3: you can you can listen to different artists. But now
S3: every day, 110,000 songs per day. So to stand out,
S3: it's hard, you know, even for artists that are already famous,
S3: quote marks, you know, because it's a lot out there.
S3: So let's say the 2010, we were so blessed that,
S3: you know, we had the opportunity to understand how it works,
S3: the streams and how, you know, try to marketing ourselves
S3: and at that time is really special because like, not
S3: all the artists in Latin Market has like a brand,
S3: you know, like and I'm talking about a brand. It's like,
S3: you know, people can really recognize what we do and
S3: we can touch different bases in culture like fashion, like art,
S3: like sports, you know, trying to, you know, reach a
S3: little bit of everything. So I think in 2010 is
S3: when when people were more like open to listen to
S3: what was going on in Spanish. And I guess in
S3: another of course, in another languages. It's just that we
S3: were so blessed because we're too many that we were,
S3: you know, try and try and deal until we broke
S3: that the law.
S1: And now there is an audience not just for the genre,
S1: but for your music in particular. You're working on your
S1: first record since Jose came out a couple of years ago. Yes.
S1: Can you tell me a bit about it? Like, is
S1: it how different or similar are the other songs you're
S1: working on right now?
S3: Oh no, it's totally different. You know, to me, an
S3: album is always a way of express how you you
S3: see how you want to like you're the one who
S3: is in charge of what you want to express to
S3: the world, right? The same as you do when you
S3: do a show. You know, like what's what's the purpose?
S3: What you want to do, You know what what you
S3: want people to feel. So in this album, like normally
S3: when I do music, it's always more like romantic and
S3: and party. But this album is definitely a party album,
S3: you know? Yeah. It's just like I just want people
S3: to be smiling all the time and forget about whatever
S3: is going on out there and just feel happy and
S3: smile when they're when they listen to the album. So
S3: this album is really special because it's definitely super happy.
S3: It's definitely to dance a lot. It has like 2
S3: or 3 songs that, you know, they're like kind of sad,
S3: you know, like heartbroken feelings, but you also can dance
S3: to it. And and we also, you know, I love
S3: we still experiment new sounds. And when everybody's going to Iraq,
S3: I like to go to the left. You know, like
S3: if you have, you know, I'm on a on a
S3: beautiful position that I don't want to be a follower.
S3: You know, I want to keep doing, you know, making
S3: my own trends. And and it's not that I want
S3: to be different. It's just like that's just my nature
S3: to do different things.
S1: One of the things that I think I love the
S1: most about your music is the amazing collaborations you pull off,
S1: both with other reggaeton artists and others. You mentioned Magenta
S1: with Beyonce as she jumped on the remix. I like it.
S5: I like diamonds. I like stunning. I like shining. I
S5: like million dollar deals with my pen, with some sun.
S5: I like those bananas.
S1: Probably my favorite song of the past decade. That album
S1: is Great Invasion of Privacy. But that track just like
S1: goes so hard.
S3: It's funny because, you know, when when we did that song,
S3: they call us to to Cardi B label and and
S3: they ask like, why should be the single? And I
S3: was like. It's not even a question. Does the single. Yeah.
S3: And they were like, No, you know, I think we're
S3: going to do this. I'm like, okay. Anyway, don't worry.
S3: People are going to let you know what's the real thing.
S1: Right?
S3: Exactly. So I remember they dropped the album and the
S3: same day at the other day when they check the numbers,
S3: it's like, Oh, you were right. This is the single now.
S3: I'm like, I told you guys, you know, because we
S3: knew the time was perfect. You know, we were blessed
S3: that that was the special moment.
S1: Are there any collaborations on this album that you're particularly
S1: excited to share with listeners?
S3: There's a lot. I just, you know, there's a big
S3: surprises there, you know, because I super unexpected and also
S3: the not just in my album, the new songs like
S3: maybe like next year from singles from different artists, you're
S3: going to be like, What is she doing there? Any clues? No,
S3: I can. I can. But just imagine. You can imagine whatever.
S1: I read in another interview, I think from from the
S1: last couple of days that Usher's classic. Yeah.
UU: You're gonna be screaming. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
S1: This is like a interpolation or a sample of that
S1: on this new work.
S3: Yes, it's. But this is really special because, you know,
S3: I wanted to sample this song, which I always need,
S3: and understand why no one can sample this special song
S3: because it's such a party vibe. And one day I
S3: was in Paris Fashion Week. He was just, you know,
S3: he was just from my right. I was like, Hey,
S3: I should what up? You know, like, we got to
S3: know like I met him way before. Great guy. And
S3: I asked him like, you know, do you think I
S3: can use, you know, sample for one of my singles?
S3: And he's like, of course I Oh, wow. Awesome. I
S3: was going to say no because no one has done
S3: it before. Yeah, maybe he everybody maybe they were rejected
S3: so many times. And then when I was in the studio,
S3: I was like, Well, let's make it more legit. You know,
S3: we have to have usher in the song. So then
S3: I call him and he was like, You know, I
S3: don't know if you want to be in the song
S3: with like he said, I, of course. So awesome. I
S3: think it's going to it's going to give a lot
S3: of credibility because, you know, besides we're using the sample
S3: and we took it to the to to the year 3000,
S3: you know, just like definitely another you can even compare
S3: you know, we're just like, this is basically another song
S3: that's exciting.
S1: I'm very excited for this.
S3: Yeah, I'm super happy and I've been dropping the song
S3: in this tour that we're doing now, you know, teasing it.
S3: And the feedback is been amazing. You know, people are
S3: just like without even knowing. But when they listen to
S3: the sample when it started, they just go crazy. And
S3: then I'm like, okay, so iconic.
S1: When you hear that straight away.
S3: You know, And for the new kids that they might
S3: never heard about the bit before, the melody still, you know,
S3: it's still so catchy and so powerful that that's what
S3: I love. You know, the people that already know the song,
S3: they have a lot of nostalgia. And also it's going
S3: to be a lot, of course, like love and hey,
S3: which makes all sense because people are going to be like, Okay,
S3: this was my favorite song. Yeah. And why you flip
S3: like this. But you know, I'm I'm really confident about
S3: what we're doing. And I think also Usher, if you
S3: jump on it because he's also confident of. Yeah yeah.
S1: It's good to have his kind of.
S3: People. He'll be like, No, you know, just like, do
S3: yourself tell me what's going on. But then the fact
S3: that he jumped with me in the song is like,
S3: he really definitely believes on it. And yeah, so we
S3: have everything set up for that.
S1: I think it's great hearing how organic these kinds of
S1: interactions are with some of our favorite artists. Oh yeah.
S3: It's really weird when it's sometimes happened with label. Try
S3: to make this connection. It's sometimes like they send you
S3: just some beautiful, amazing song that you just can't say no.
S3: But I but I also mostly all of my all
S3: of my collaborations are being really organic. It's like I
S3: just met the artist.
S1: What was the story with Beyonce jumping on me and
S1: was that her listening to the song and being like,
S1: I got to do this?
S3: The thing was like her daughter Blue, that was her
S3: favorite song. So she was like, Listen to me over
S3: and over again. Over and over again. Over and over again.
S3: I think, you know. So I think she you know,
S3: Beyonce wanted to like. Till I give her a present. So, like,
S3: you know, like I'm here with your favorite artist right
S3: now with the music. And I was in the studio
S3: one day and it was a girl called. Her name
S3: is Melissa. She. She works with Beyonce. I think she
S3: still work with Beyonce, I think. And they just like
S3: randomly asked her like she told me about the story
S3: that she was listening on. The time with the song
S3: was like, well, why don't you ask her if you
S3: want to jump on the song? You know, as Latino,
S3: we love to hustle all the time. So I'm like,
S3: So I made the question and then at the other girl, like,
S3: she's down, like, send her the bid. And I'm like, What?
S3: And then she invited me to Coachella. So it was
S3: like we was beautiful because it wasn't a label thing.
S3: It was it was life, you know? It was like
S3: her daughter listening to the song over and over.
S1: And part of one of the most iconic live performances.
S3: In the history of history. You know, it was the
S3: first time that I, you know, that a black women
S3: have the opportunity to perform.
S6: Are y'all ready, Coachella? I want to see everybody from
S6: the front to the back.
UU: Put your hand up singing now! Hey, hey, Jump. Yeah.
S3: I think was a huge statement. The fact that she
S3: was there, you know, and also there had been a
S3: Latino there. And, you know, to me, it was a
S3: huge blessing to be with her on stage. And that's
S3: such an iconic moment for culture in general.
S1: And Jose, I've heard that maybe there's an Ed Sheeran
S1: collaboration in the works as well.
S3: It is. It is. We have a new album coming
S3: up next year. The album club. Album. Yeah, Hope Album.
S3: That's amazing. Whole album we recorded in France, in Paris
S3: and is really something that I super unexpected in the
S3: fact like we did a whole album, you know, like
S3: we started doing two songs. We met on a hotel.
S3: I was in the gym, he was in the gym.
S3: I was. So you.
S1: Guys met at the.
S3: Gym? So I was like, I saw a guy, a
S3: guy on the treadmill. I was like, that I saw
S3: I saw his left arm. So I googled. I Googled
S3: his left arm. Yeah. Like you see. And he also
S3: was Google on me, my tattoos. So then he, like,
S3: he just got out of the treadmill and I was
S3: in the spinning and the bicycle, you know, and he's like, J.
S3: And I'm like, Ed? And he was like, so cool,
S3: you know, because we we have this immediately connection. Then
S3: we have coffee, we talk. You know, we started having
S3: a really like a cool relationship. And and after that
S3: we said like, well, we're going to do when we're
S3: going to do music, you know, and, and it happened
S3: so organically. And then I call him one day I
S3: was like, okay, we have these two songs. Why don't
S3: we do at least like three and we make an AP?
S3: And he was like, Well, why don't we make an album? Then?
S3: I'm like, Of course I make an album. So it
S3: was that organic, you know? So yeah, we have this,
S3: this amazing album for next year, God willing. And I
S3: think it's going to be such a huge statement. I'm excited.
S1: I mean, that trek south of the border with a
S1: Camilla Cabello and kind of be That's great. It sounds good.
S1: You know, that sort of thing.
S3: You can't you know, you got to be ready for
S3: what we what we did together with the new album.
S3: It's going to be mind blowing, you know, production out
S3: of this world. We have Fred again, which is amazing.
S3: The album is really special. Like you don't see that coming.
S3: And when you listen to him, you're like, Oh wow,
S3: they did this.
S1: That's really exciting. I mean, it's hard to think of
S1: an artist that you haven't collaborated with, but is there
S1: someone in your list or someone who you would love
S1: to do something, whether it's just to jump on a
S1: track with them or do something more? Of course, you.
S3: Know, Drake has always been one of my my favorite artists. Also,
S3: Rihanna is super dope.
S1: If you can get her back in the studio, man,
S1: I think everyone would be very excited.
S3: You know, everybody's been waiting for that for years. But
S3: of course, you know, she just did the Super Bowl.
S3: I think she's okay this year. More than great. I
S3: think you are Rihanna Drake. I haven't worked with the weekend.
S3: I think it's really dope also. I mean, I talked
S3: to him I think not a year ago or something
S3: like that. But I think, you know, this is just
S3: part of the time. You know, it's just like timing.
S3: And I mean, they're like me and you talking vibing.
S3: You know, I think the music has changed a lot.
S3: It's not like it used to be like, you know,
S3: labels send you the song and that. I'm much more like, No,
S3: let me get to know the person or let me
S3: vibe with it. And that's what's going on.
S1: The last thing I wanted to touch on was we
S1: were talking about the kind of crossover success you had,
S1: the 2016, 2017, 2018, particularly with some of those bigger tracks.
S1: That was a pretty complicated time for America as well.
S1: It sort of felt interesting to see audiences really lap
S1: up and enjoy and listen to music from Spanish speaking countries. Yeah, we.
S3: Also were celebrating because at that time, if I'm not mistaken,
S3: Trump was a president.
S1: That's right. That's kind of what I'm thinking. It's like
S1: on one hand, they're backing again.
S3: So it was it was like totally anti-immigration and, you know,
S3: like he said crazy things about Mexico. And I was like,
S3: this kind of happened, you know, like, I think we
S3: got to at least when it comes from music to music,
S3: we got to approve of these people that are worthy. True.
S3: You know, so that showed them that our power is
S3: it's way beyond because like if all the immigrants in
S3: United States stopped for a day, I don't know what's
S3: going to happen with the economy.
S1: Oh, even the radio man.
S7: Imagine, imagine.
S3: You know, we shut down the whole country. Yeah. So,
S3: you know, it's just like we were so proud to
S3: be like, okay, you guys want us out, but we
S3: got to get in more than than we used to
S3: and a lot more powerful than music.
S1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's you saw it as, like,
S1: a way to kind of strike back again.
S3: Yes, absolutely. I was like, you know, like, let's prove
S3: them wrong, You know, let's prove them that we're the
S3: real deal.
S1: Amazing. Jose, thank you so much for your time today.
S8: Really appreciate you for the time.
S1: This episode of The Drop was produced by Che Wong.
S1: If you enjoyed listening to today's episode of The Drop,
S1: make sure to follow us in your favorite podcast app.
S1: Leave us a review or better yet, share it with
S1: a friend. I'm Osman Farooqui.
UU: See you soon.