José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has been referred to as the “Prince of Reggaeton” (from Spanish: “Príncipe del Reguetón”), and is one of the best-selling Latin artists, with over 35 million records. Balvin was born in Medellín. At age 17, he moved to the United States to learn English, where he lived in both Oklahoma and New York. He then returned to Medellín and gained popularity performing at clubs in the city.

Throughout his career, Balvin has won eleven Billboard Latin Music Awards, six Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards and seven Latin American Music Awards and received four Grammy Award nominations. In 2017, the BMI Latin Awards named him the Contemporary Latin Songwriter of the Year for his contribution in the Latin music industry, and has won the first Global Icon Award given by Lo Nuestro Awards, in recognition of his contribution to spread Latin music worldwide. He became the first Latino to headline world-musical events such as Coachella, Tomorrowland, and Lollapalooza. The Guinness World Records acknowledged him as a “leader of a second-generation reggaeton revolution”.

His breakthrough came in 2014 with the single “6 AM” featuring Puerto Rican singer Farruko, which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart, followed by “Ay Vamos” and “Ginza”. In 2016, he released Energia, which included the hit singles “Bobo”, “Safari”, and “Sigo Extrañándote”. In June 2017, Balvin released the single “Mi Gente” with Willy William. On 1 August 2017, “Mi Gente” topped the Global Top 50 on Spotify, and later reached one billion views on YouTube. In January 2018, he released the hit single “Machika” featuring Jeon and Anitta. He collaborated with Cardi B and Bad Bunny on the US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single “I Like It”, which was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Balvin released his most recent album José in March 2021.

Though his music is primarily reggaeton, Balvin has experimented with a variety of musical genres in his work, including electronica, house music, Latin trap, and R&B. His original musical inspirations included rock groups such as Metallica and Nirvana, and reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee. He has collaborated with Latin American artists such as Ozuna, Nicky Jam, Bad Bunny and Pitbull. Despite working with many English-speaking artists such as Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams, Black Eyed Peas, Cardi B, Dua Lipa and Major Lazer, Balvin continues to sing almost exclusively in Spanish, and hopes to introduce Spanish-language music to a global audience. He is also noted for his eclectic and colorful fashion sense.

Balvin received the Vision Award from the Latin heritage Awards in 2016, and in 2019 he won the Golden Artist of Latin Urban Music at the Premios Heat. In 2020 he was included on Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people of the world, and was called one of the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard. Balvin is the artist with the most number one songs on the Billboard Latin Airplay chart. He is also the only Latin artist to reach number one on the Billboard charts 174 times.

Balvin was born in Medellín on 7 May 1985 into a middle-class family. His father was an economist and business owner, and he grew up in a large home in the hills outside the city. 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 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,” comparing him to the reggaeton equivalent of Jay-Z. His father’s business went bankrupt, and the family lost their home and car, requiring the family to move to a poorer neighborhood. During this period of his life, 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.”

When Balvin was 16, he participated in an English-exchange program in Oklahoma, but was disappointed by the experience, saying, “I was expecting the U.S. that everyone knows from Hollywood.” Soon after the program, he moved to New York City to further study English and music, living with an aunt on Staten Island and working as a dog walker. During his time in New York, he became fascinated by the business savvy of New York rappers 50 Cent and P. Diddy. Balvin worked various jobs in New York, Miami, and Medellín, including working illegally in the United States as a roofer and house painter. He 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.