WIRED
WIRED
  • 2 months ago
Superstar Colombian musician J Balvin visits WIRED to answer his most searched questions from Google. Why did J Balvin start making music? What is J Balvin's real name? Is he friends with Maluma? What is J Balvin's most popular song? When is J Balvin coming back to Fortnite? Answers to these questions and plenty more await on the WIRED Autocomplete Interview.

J Balvin's newest album, RAYO, is available now: https://jbalvin.lnk.to/Rayo

Director: Justin Wolfson
Director of Photography: Matt Krueger
Editor: Michael Suyeda
Talent: J Balvin
Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producer: Paul Gulyas
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Production Coordinator: Rhyan Lark
Talent Booker: Paige Garbarini
Camera Operator: Lucas Vilicich
Sound Mixer: Gray Thomas-Sowers
Production Assistant: Liliana Starck
Hair & Make-Up: Maureen Sherwood
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Additional Editor: JC Scruggs
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
Transcript
00:00Hey guys, this is J Balvin and this is The Wire
00:02Autocomplete interview.
00:03Right here, let go, J Balvin, man, Latino game.
00:12Why did J Balvin start making music?
00:16Ah, this is a good question.
00:17If we go deep, deep, I start doing music
00:21to help my dad on a big bankrupt that he had before.
00:26So like, what talent do I have?
00:27How can I help my family?
00:29So taking out the romantic on reality,
00:33I wanted to help my family.
00:34So it was through music that I can connect with the world,
00:37but also help my dad through the bankruptcy.
00:39Switch, mirror vibes.
00:41Okay, who are J Balvin and Maluma?
00:44So many times Maluma, they call him J Balvin
00:46and J Balvin, they call him Maluma.
00:47You know what I'm saying?
00:49So we're both from Medellin, Colombia.
00:52Maluma is more sometimes like,
00:54he goes like kind of jumping more into pop.
00:56I consider one of my friends in the industry.
00:59He's like my little brother.
01:00I have so much respect for him.
01:01He just became a dad, like myself.
01:04So this is like daddy gang.
01:06J Balvin, blonde.
01:08One of my kind of like branding was being all time.
01:14Like my basic color was blonde all the time,
01:17but then I was switching colors every week.
01:19Now I have braids, so I just let it grow.
01:21I let my hair breathe for a little bit.
01:23After like 15 years dying my hair.
01:25If you're looking for it, it's platinum blonde.
01:28Not blonde blonde.
01:29J Balvin, tattoos.
01:32Oh, I lost count.
01:33I have so many tattoos.
01:35Don't ask me why I have them because I cannot be like,
01:37oh, this is the, I did this because my story,
01:41because I remember when I was not.
01:43I just love tattoos.
01:44Sometimes I see people trying to explain
01:46the reason why they have a tattoo.
01:47It's okay if they have it, it makes all sense.
01:49But like I have Mickey Mouse.
01:52I have Mario Bros in my skin.
01:54Why? Because I like it.
01:56There's no story, I didn't grow up with them.
01:58What was J Balvin's first song?
02:04I'm so grateful because I have a really beautiful family.
02:08And when I say family, it's like the family that I chose,
02:11which is my friends.
02:13And they always been with me since day one.
02:15I wrote a song for them.
02:16And at that time you never heard like a reggaeton,
02:19you know, like having like paying homage to your friends.
02:22So that was my first song.
02:24It wasn't famous, but that was my first song.
02:27What is J Balvin's real name?
02:29My real name is Jose Alvaro Osorio Balvin.
02:35Jose, not Jose.
02:37Normally people, you know,
02:39they think that all Latinos we call Jose, and it's not.
02:43We have a situation.
02:44So Latilde, so some people are Jose.
02:47And some people are Jose.
02:49I'm Jose.
02:50What is J Balvin's most popular song?
02:53On a culture level, mi gente is basically,
02:56you know, the fact that like a game changer
02:58where the world was like, okay, what is this?
03:01And by the way, it's really interesting
03:03because mi gente wasn't a reggaeton song.
03:06Willie William from France that he sent the beat.
03:09And I'm like, I want to kill it with this one.
03:11It was so different.
03:13It was a big risk, but you know, big risk, big wins.
03:16And this time we won.
03:18What does J Balvin like to do?
03:21I love to drive cars kind of fast,
03:26but now since I became a dad, everything changed.
03:29The garbage truck, they pass me.
03:33You understand?
03:34I'm so slow lately.
03:37So kind.
03:38That's J Balvin.
03:39Let me see.
03:41Speak Spanish.
03:42Hablo español muy bien todo el tiempo.
03:43Cuando quiera me gusta hablar con todo el mundo
03:44porque desde MedellĂ­n, Colombia,
03:46eso es lo que yo tengo para hablar con todo el mundo
03:47desde MedellĂ­n.
03:48Was J Balvin a Coachella with Beyonce?
03:51That was my first Coachella, actually.
03:54I received a call and it's like,
03:55oh, just, you know, it's an invitation.
03:58You just want to call and join Beyonce at Coachella stage.
04:01They didn't even say it.
04:02I was already jumping on a plane.
04:03She's one of my idols, you know.
04:05Sometimes they say, never meet your idols.
04:07In this case, it was worth it.
04:09J Balvin, Coachella setlist.
04:11I was a crazy setlist
04:13because we were very focused on people just to rape.
04:15I do reggaeton, but I also like to jump
04:17in different types of sounds,
04:18like in the ghetto with Skrillex.
04:20So this setlist was more special on festival,
04:26parties, so I was in the ghetto.
04:28It was Mijente, it was Colmillo.
04:32We did a lot of songs.
04:34J Balvin, English songs.
04:36I think I did one hook,
04:38an English hook for a soundtrack for Fast and the Furious
04:43with Camila Cabello and Pitbull.
04:46My mission was always be mainstream artists on Spanish.
04:51And I think we accomplished it.
04:52And I think this is just the beginning.
04:56J Balvin, J Balvin Ferrari.
04:58Someone made up that I was doing a collab with Ferrari,
05:04which I would love to.
05:05Shout out, Ferrari.
05:05You know I love you guys.
05:06I'm a Ferrari collector, one of my biggest passion cars.
05:10So once again, Ferrari, check me out.
05:13J Balvin, Los Angeles.
05:16Los Angeles has always been a beautiful place for me
05:18when it comes to my fan base.
05:20It's been a while that I haven't toured,
05:22which by the way, we're touring next year.
05:24I can't wait to be in LA with you guys.
05:28Los Angeles always show me a lot of love.
05:31Los Angeles, when it comes to like a fan base in US,
05:34it's really special for me.
05:36J Balvin, Mijente lyrics.
05:38What happened with Mijente lyrics was that
05:40I was just concerned about how to unify people through music.
05:44So Mijente, basically what I said in the song is like,
05:47no matter who you are, what you do,
05:51if you have money, you don't have money.
05:53We're all the same.
05:53The beat is just so crazy enough to catch the people
05:57and the melodies and the hook is so easy.
05:59Don't understand Mijente, but it's easy.
06:01When is J Balvin coming back to Fortnite?
06:05I have my own skin in Fortnite.
06:07So my first one was when I was doing the album, Colores.
06:13So it was a really colorful version of J Balvin
06:15with the blonde hair that we say in different like,
06:18like a rainbow colors.
06:19And on the second version,
06:21I wasn't in a mood that was just wearing like black clothing,
06:23but shout out to Fortnite.
06:24I think we got to come back with the new look for,
06:27with the braids.
06:30J Balvin, new song.
06:33Doble Cho, because it's like, it's like double shot.
06:37It's featuring Faith, another peer,
06:40but person that I love and respect
06:42from Medellin, Colombia.
06:43It's a great reggaeton song.
06:44We actually did it here in LA.
06:46The beat is crazy.
06:47Super fire, super Colombian.
06:48I'm driving like, like kind of my first Volkswagen
06:52what happened at the beginning
06:54with the Colombian flag inside,
06:55like really ghetto the way we started it.
06:58J Balvin outfits, my biggest passion.
07:00And as Latino, I always have my vision
07:02of take us out of the box.
07:04Before it was like, oh, they wear this way.
07:06You know, they dress this way.
07:07They talk this way.
07:08We were borrowed free, you know,
07:10and we have to, the right to express ourself
07:13in different ways.
07:14So as it comes to outfits,
07:16it's the way to express yourself without talking.
07:18I feel cool.
07:19J Balvin, Pokemon card.
07:22I did a collab with Pokemon
07:24and they gave me also like a real special edition
07:26of a Pokemon card that it's just like,
07:28I think it's like three of us
07:29that have like a really special Pokemon card.
07:31But if you tell me about which one is my favorite,
07:35chat is hard.
07:37How to buy J Balvin Jordan 3s.
07:43We did a great move with this
07:45because we wanted to fight the bots,
07:48not doing them for the resale.
07:50We're doing it for people to get them and to have them.
07:52From a gym Colombia,
07:54we found a way to trick the bots
07:59and we charged them 25K per sneaker.
08:02As you imagine, they all were crying to take the money back.
08:06We sent a real code for my fans to get the sneakers
08:09and they have them for the real price.
08:11And the bots, well, they lost 25K.
08:15Unfortunately, we have to be so legal in that way
08:17that we gave the money back,
08:18but it'll be a good punishment for them
08:20to be like, don't play with us, man.
08:22This year, we just dropped the black ones,
08:24which is in the name of my son Rio.
08:26And I think it's gonna be top three also,
08:28hopefully this year of sneakers.
08:30And shout out to Michael Jordan and Reggie
08:32and the whole family for always listening
08:35to this crazy guy and have the dream to support
08:38because I'm the first Latino artist in history
08:41to make this collab.
08:42Is J Balvin Colombian?
08:44I'm Maria Puez.
08:45Si, senor, soy de Colombia.
08:48It's not Columbia with U.
08:50No, that's Columbia Records
08:51or that's something different, right?
08:53Co-lum-bia.
08:55This, instead of a U, it's a O.
08:58I'm from Medellin, Colombia.
09:01I remember I was like in the south of France
09:03like two weeks ago.
09:04I was just talking with my friend
09:06and you just feel like he's like a raider.
09:11Colombians, where are they?
09:13Okay.
09:14J Balvin, Rayo.
09:15This is like my new J Balvin season.
09:18I've been in so different seasons in my life as an artist
09:21that I have to reinvent myself
09:24and keep connecting with the new generations.
09:26Rayo was the name of my first car,
09:28a Volkswagen from the 97,
09:31that my dad, he bought it for me with all the sacrifice.
09:33Rayo means thunderbolt or lightning bolt, right?
09:37So that's like my logo.
09:40This is my first car, but this is my new season.
09:42And the last one.
09:44Is J Balvin good live?
09:46I'm great.
09:47And shout out to my vocal coach, Pipe.
09:49I just started vocal coach this year.
09:54If it was good live before, we're way better now.
09:57This is the moment where you show who you are as an artist.
10:01Because, yeah, I can say that,
10:02but you gotta go and see the show
10:03and you'd be like, yes, you're right.
10:04Of course, when I'm in Colombia, that's like,
10:07that's hometown.
10:08That's like, it's a huge party.
10:10But everywhere we go, we do a huge party.
10:13Well, guys, that was all the boards.
10:15That was really fun.
10:16Thank you so much for the love.
10:17Once again, my new album is out now.
10:19Rayo, go check it.
10:21Para Vilatino.
10:22And here we are.
10:24Let go.
10:25J Balvin, man.