J Balvin

Born Jose Alvaro Osorio Balvin on May 7, 1985 in Medelin, Colombia, J Balvin is a reggaeton singer whose polished urban singles and best-selling albums have made him a top-tier Latin pop artist. From an early age, Balvin developed a keen interest in the field of music and listened to various genres of songs such as champeta, reggae, rap and bachata. He began to develop his dance moves after watching a lot of music videos.

After more than ten years of working between the United States and Colombia to study English and music, Balvin finally released his debut single "Ella Me Cautivo" in 2009. The song peaked at No. 35 on the U.S. tropical chart. In the following year, Balvin contributed four songs to the soundtrack to Tim Bulot's film "El Negocio".

It was not until Balvin released his 2013 single "Yo Te Lo Dije" that he gained recognition in the United States. And when the singer released a track entitled "6 AM" featuring Farukko in 2014, he gained worldwide recognition. The track peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Latin Song chart.

Shortly after, Balvin released a bonus track on the deluxe edition of his album "La Familia B-Sides", "Ay Vamos". The song topped Billboard Hot Latin Song chart in 2015. The remix of the track, which featured Nicky Jam and French Montana, was used on the soundtrack to "Furious 7".

Balvin bagged numerous awards that year. At the 2015 Premios Lo Nuestro, he brought home Urban Artist of the Year, Urban Album of the Year, Urban Song of the Year and Urban Collaboration of the Year. At the Billboard Latin Music Awards, he won New Artist, Latin Rhythm Song of the Year and Artist of the Year.

Also in the same year, Balvin premiered "Ginza", the lead track off his album "Energia" at the Premios Juventud. The music video for the single was unveiled a week after the single release. The song topped Billboard's Hot Latin Song chart.

Later that year, Balvin was scheduled to perform at the Miss USA contest, marking his first performance on national mainstream television. However, the singer canceled it to protest Donald Trump's inflammatory comments insulting illegal immigrants. It led him to start a movement called #LatinosSomosUnidos to bring awareness to the struggles occuring on the Venezulean-Colombian border.

"Energia" was released on June 24, 2016. The album, which featured contributions from Bull Nene, Daddy Yankee, Fuego and Yandel, topped several Latin album charts. Three tracks off the album, "Bobo", "Safari" and "Sigo Extranandote", reached the top 10 of Latin single charts.

In the following year, Balvin released a new single called "Mi Gente" featuring Willy William along with its music video treatment. He later released a remix of the track with pop superstar Beyonce Knowles. The remix reached the top ten in the United States chart, marking his first top ten single in the country.

Balvin kicked off 2018 by releasing a collaborative track with Jeon and Anita called "Machika". He later followed it up with another track entitled "Azura". Not showing any sign of slowing down, he is currently gearing up for a collaboration with Liam Payne.