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J Balvin made Latin music history on Saturday, August 3 as the first Latino headliner at Lollapalooza. The Colombian reggaetonero is a first in Chicago’s annual four-day music festival’s 28-year history. The 34-year-old took to social media to share his joy and dedicated the breakthrough to Latinos and dreamers. “After 28 years of Lollapalooza, for the first time, a Latino artist is the headliner of the night,” he wrote. The Con Altura singer continued, “This goes dedicated to the dreamers, the latinos and those of us who know that in life everything is cause and effect, meaning we deserve to be here.”
J Balvin was the first Latino headliner in Lollapalooza's 28-year history
During his stellar performance, the Latino performer took it back to reggaeton’s early days with iconic duo Wisin y Yandel, who played classic hits like Rakata and Gasolina. The year 2019 is proving to be a year of firsts for the artist as back in May he was the first reggaetonero to appear at Saturday Night Live as well as the first reggaeton act to take the main stage at Coachella.
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Adding to his list of firsts, ahead of stepping out on the stage, the Mi Gente singer took to social media to announce he’s the first Latino to have an exclusive collaboration with Japanese streetwear brand BAPE. The Medellín native showed photos of the t-shirt set, and of course, he rocked one for his performance. The collection made its debut in conjunction with the singer’s Lollapalooza set, however, it was only available to concert goers.
The Colombiano rocked the stage with Wisin y Yandel
The graphic tees are perfect for all J Balvin fans as one of them features a cartoon print of him (green hair and all!) standing next to Baby Milo. Another one has BAPE’s iconic ape head in an array of bright colors – including yellow, red, green and blue – as opposed to the traditional green camo. His name appears below in bubble letters in the same colorful hues.
The artist has a new fashion collab with Japanese streetwear label BAPE
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Although no exact dates of the worldwide release have been announced, J Balvin said to expect it very soon. Stay tuned!
