| Net Worth | $15,000,000 |
|---|---|
| Full Name | José Álvaro Osorio Balvin |
| Date of Birth/Age | May 7, 1985 (age 34) |
| Source of wealth | Singer |
| Height | 5’10” |
| Country of origin | Colombia |
| State/City of origin | Medellín |
| Last Updated | 2019 |
Net Worth
J Balvin’s net worth is $12 million.
How Did J Balvin Make His Money?
He is a reggaeton singer and record producer. J Balvin is one of the most beloved and successful Latin American singers in the world.
The Colombian-born superstar regularly sells out concert tours and has had a string of gold and platinum albums.
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Crossover Appeal
In 2019, Balvin was the first Latin American singer to headline a show at the popular music festival Coachella.
He is also slated to be the first solo Latin act to headline at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago.
In an interview about his ability to break the language barrier at these music festivals, Balvin explained, “It’s not that I don’t want to sing in English.
I’ve done it, but that’s not part of my plan… What happened with Coachella was that we didn’t cross over.
The people crossed over to us. Even though most of the people didn’t understand what we were saying, they just vibed with us. And I think that’s beautiful.”
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Several things have contributed to J Balvin’s enormous success.
First is his ability to create beautiful songs. Balvin is a reggaetón singer, but he departs from that genre in many ways.
Most reggaetón music is known for its hard beats, rough singing and explicit lyrics. Balvin has focused on writing and singing songs that are tuneful and musically sophisticated.
His lyrics also differ from the typically sexist, “macho” style of most reggaetón artists. He has been credited with developing a new style of reggaetón that is based in Medellin, Colombia.
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Puerto Rican singer Nicky Jam is another reggaetón singer who moved to Medellin and earned success with a similar style.
Second, his image has never been of a bad boy or party animal. His image is of a guy who occasionally gets into trouble but is basically a good person.
This carefully cultivated image has made him especially irresistible to female fans.
Third, Balvin is a sharp businessman who has worked with some of the top producers and artists in the Latin American recording industry.
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Early Life
Balvin was born in Medellin, Colombia to a middle-class family. His father owned a successful business and they lived in a suburb of the city.
When he was 17, he moved to the U.S. to learn English and try to make a start in the music business. He was not able to get a record deal and ended up working in construction to earn his living.
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Move to the Barrio
After a few years, he moved back to Medellin and began performing in clubs there. At that time, his father’s business went into bankruptcy.
The family lost everything and was forced to move to a poor neighborhood in the city.
In a later interview, Balvin described that period, saying, “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.”
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Becoming “the Business”
Balvin admired the business sense of rappers that he had learned about when he was in the U.S. Back in Colombia, he enrolled in business courses at the university and began going by the nickname “J Balvin El Negocio” (J Balvin the Business), a nickname he still uses today.
In 2008, he met his longtime friend and business partner David Rivera Mazo when they were both performing in Medellin.
They began writing and recording songs together and were finally signed by EMI Records in 2009.
In 2009, Balvin released his first album, Real. It featured his first international hit, the song “Yo Te Lo Dije.”
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Biggest Hits
Balvin had his biggest hit in 2014 with the single “6 AM.” This collaboration with Puerto Rican artist Farruko and the accompanying video tell the story of the two singers waking up after a night of partying.
The lyrics say that it’s 6:00 AM and they have no idea what happened the night before.
The song hit number 2 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and made stars of both singers. The video on YouTube has been viewed 1 billion times.
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His next big hit, “Ay Vamos,” hit the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. It won the 2015 Latin Grammy for Best Urban Song.
It also won the HEAT Latin Music Award for Best Video and Best Male Artist.
The song is about a couple that keeps fighting but somehow stays together despite everything. The video has been viewed over 1 billion times on YouTube.
In June 2017, the single “Mi Gente” went to the top of the Global Top 50 on Spotify. The video of this collaboration with French rapper Willy William reached one billion views on YouTube.
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Awards
Balvin has won three Billboard Latin Music Awards, three Latin Grammy Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and four Latin American music awards.
His songs, videos, and albums have been nominated 172 times and won 55 times. The latest nomination was for his album I Like It, which was nominated for a 2019 Grammy for Record of the Year.
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Relationships
He has dated model Ana Bekoa and Colombian actress Diana Osorio, but he has never married.
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Over the years, rumors have occasionally surfaced that J Balvin is gay. This is large because he has never been married and because of his sometimes-outlandish fashion choices.
These rumors have never been confirmed. In 2018, Balvin told his Instagram followers that if he were gay, he would post photos of his boyfriend.
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Favorite Quotes From J Balvin
“I like to change and switch it up. I don’t want to sound like anybody else. I don’t want to always sound the same. I constantly want to reinvent myself.”
“When we do a tour, we rehearse until we are perfect. One thing I do before every show is get the band together and pray. We thank more than we ask.”
“We are proving that Latinos can connect with an audience on a global level without having to leave our identities behind. We are making music for the human race, and even beings from other galaxies are welcome to vibe with us.”
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J Balvin’s Success Tips
- “I obviously work really hard. But I also have the capacity to dream really big and the discipline to materialize those dreams.”
- “I invite you to get out of the box and be yourself. If you have pink hair, blue hair, yellow hair, a broken tooth or other sexual preferences, it doesn’t matter. Be yourself. Fight for your happiness, always”
