It’s hard to make history with what you’re passionate about. And it’s even harder to make history over and over again in an industry that sees you as an outsider. This is exactly what happens with J Balvin. The Colombian artist has been setting new records and breaking molds in the last decade. For example, only last year, the reggaeton singer became the most streamed artist in the world on Spotify. He was also the first ever reggaeton singer to perform at Coachella. But his successful career didn’t stop there and now he will make history again with another presentation in yet another American music festival.
The Colombian singer has devoted himself to bring his sound to every corner of the world, conquering the music industry while remaining true to his own identity. With his charismatic personality, vibrant style, and catchy tunes, he has opened himself the doors of the English-speaking music industry. His music proposal has taken Latino beats into the mainstream and his participation in this year’s Lollapalooza festival in Chicago is proof of it.
This 2019, J Balvin becomes the very first Latino artist and reggaeton singer to be headliner of the iconic festival in its 28 years of history. Though other Latin American musicians have performed in Lollapalooza, Balvin is the very first to be part of the main shows of the event that will take place from August 1-4 at Grant Park. Along with him, huge artists of the moment like Ariana Grande and Childish Gambino will make of this year’s festival one to be remembered.
Lollapalooza isn’t J Balvin’s mayor gig of his career, though, as he was featured in a historic collaboration with Beyonce at what’s now known as Beychella, and just a few months ago he returned to the Californian festival to perform by his own. If that wasn’t enough, this year he became one of the very few Latinxs (or better said, non-English-speaking artists) to receive the most nominations at the Billboard Awards.
Probably what’s more impressive about J Balvin isn’t how he’s managed to become so influential but rather how he’s done it without having to compromise or change anything about his music proposal or image. For example, he’s determined to keep singing in Spanish no matter what, since this is a huge part of his identity, as he pointed out in a recent interview with Jimmy Fallon.
For sure, this won’t be the last time J Balvin and Latin music make history in internationally famous music festivals because, as a community, we’re definitely making ourselves present in global circles.
Here’s the full lineup for this 2019 Lollapalooza:
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