J Balvin is the latest Latin star to make an appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show.
The Colombian chart-topping artist sat down with DeGeneres on Monday (May 23), just days before the show’s series finale on May 26 to talk about becoming a global star and explain why he lived in Oklahoma at one point in his life, among other things.
Before the interview began, the “Mi Gente” singer gifted DeGeneres a gorgeous bouquet of pink roses and congratulated her on her show’s historic run. “You deserve everything,” he tells her. DeGeneres then goes on to explain that Balvin was scheduled to appear on her show, which is ending after 19 seasons, pre-pandemic but “then everything shut down…so thanks for being here before we end the show,” she says.
“You’ve become a huge star, not that you weren’t before when we were going to have you, but you headlined Lollapalooza and Coachella, you’re one of the biggest streaming artists on Spotify,” DeGeneres tells Balvin, who responds that becoming global by singing in Spanish makes everything even more special explaining that before, Latin artists had to sing in English in order to cross over to the mainstream market.
The hitmaker also explained why he moved from his native Colombia to a small town in Oklahoma to learn English as an exchange student before officially moving to New York to pursue a career in music. “That’s what I wanted to see. This is where my inspiration to become an artist comes from and conquer the world with my music,” he says, adding, “But gotta be grateful for Oklahoma.”
Before ending his interview, Balvin gushed about his 9-month-old son Rio and talked about the meaning behind his name. “Like river, I want him to just flow.”
Watch J Balvin on The Ellen DeGeneres Show below.
