J Balvin Biography

J Balvin is a successful Colombian singer, songwriter and record producer. He is known for songs like “Ya te lo dije” and “Ginza” and making a name on the International scene as an urban latin performer.

Early Life

Originally born as José Álvaro Osorio Balvin, this singer was born in Medellín, Columbia on May 7, 1985. As a teen, he became interested in music while listening to rap, champeta, bachata and reggae on the radio. J lived for a period of time in New York and his interest was broadened in the urban and rock style.

Professional Debut and Breakthrough

Balvin was introduced to the reggaeton scene after launching his first production as a solo artist with “Panas” under the label EMI Colombia. He received national recognition with the single “Ella me cautivo”. “Real”, his first album was released in 2010. The material was well received in his country and he obtained a gold certification for high sales. “En lo oscuro” became his first number 1 hit in Colombia. Slowly, he started making his way into the North American and South American market launching the second album “El negocio” in 2011. In 2012, he revealed a self-titled mixtape meanwhile receiving various awards. “Ya te lo dije” and “Tranquila”, two singles from his upcoming third album were released and received 2 platinum discs from the RIAA in several Latin countries.

International Success

Starting 2013 he revealed the single “Sola” which got Balvin gold certification, this time from the United States. In addition, the”6 AM” track was nominated for 2 Latin Grammys. His third album was revealed as “La familia” under Capitol Latin and EMI Music Mexic labels. It reached spot 10 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums and garnered numerous platinum and gold certification from Latin America and other European countries. In 2015 “Ay Vamos” won one Latin Grammy for “Best Urban Song”. “Ginza” the first single from an upcoming album stayed at the top of Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs for 21 consecutive weeks, breaking the record and making J Balvin the longest-lasting solo artist in that position. In addition, the video of the same single broke another record for the most views for a Latin video in 24 hours (now holding 600 million views).

Photo credit: Billboard.com