Why J Balvin Wants to Smash This Old-School Dad Stereotype

“It took me a while in the beginning because I started going to all the Latino awards, and I was the one who was going with colored hair, sometimes wearing these things that they weren’t used to [seeing] in Latino entertainment before,” he explained. “Of course, I got criticized because they were like, ‘This guy’s crazy. Where’s his mind at?’ And they might be right. But my mind was always to get people to see that we’re more than Latinos. The fact that we can make space in this world.”

He continued, “But it didn’t hurt me because I knew where I was headed, and I still know where I’m headed.”

“I’m dressing the way I’m dressing because I feel that it is good,” he said. “If you feel a kind of way with what I’m wearing…well, either you like or not, but there’s nothing for you to feel disrespected about.”

Limiting people’s fashion, especially when it comes to having a machismo mindset, J Balvin noted, “That’s old school. We’re in the future right now.”