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Colombian reggaeton singer José Álvaro Osorio Balvín, better known as J Balvin , is on the 2020 TIME 100 List. The artist is named one of “100 Most Influential People of 2020,” and to honor his well-deserved title, Cuban singer Camila Cabello penned a beautiful reflection on TIME Magazine on how the ”Que Calor” singer has impacted her life beyond his music.
According to Cabello, when she met Balvin, he was one of her favorite artists, and it was very common to play his music in family gatherings. “When I first met J Balvin — or José, as his family and friends know him — my family and I were already huge fans of his. We would play ‘Ginza’ and ’Ay Vamos’ at all our family parties,” she revealed. ”He was already making the people all over the world dance. When I found out I was on a song with him — ’Hey Ma,’ my first song as a solo artist — I was so excited, but you’re always nervous to meet your idols,” the songstress said. The song was a collaboration between Cabello, Balvin, and singer and rapper Pitbull , and it is part of the Fate of the Furious soundtrack.
The “Havana” singer also said she went through “a period of intense anxiety” but found comfort in J Balvin. “I saw his posts on Instagram talking about his struggle with anxiety and mental health, and I remember bursting out crying because I no longer felt alone, amazed that someone who was achieving such incredible things was still vulnerable and brave enough to share that with the world,” she wrote. “If there’s one thing I would love everybody to know about him, it’s this: José has always been so humble, hardworking and gracious, and so constantly grateful and kind. I’ve seen him become a top artist on Spotify and YouTube globally, nicknamed ‘the Prince of Reggaeton,’ his songs streamed more than 42 billion times, all while remaining true to himself, constantly uplifting his peers and supporting his friends, and dreaming big. He’s opened up the doors for Latino artists everywhere by making the world hear and fall in love with our culture, our sounds, and our spirit.”
Camila Cabello ended her piece by writing about what she admires the most about the 35-year-old superstar. “What I truly admire and love the most about José is that he is just himself. He’s himself to the world, he’s himself to his friends and his peers, and he’s got the kind of heart that makes him a person everyone is rooting for. When he wins, we all win.”
Last year, Cabello also made it to the list as “The Next 100 Most Influential People.”
This past summer, Latin Grammy Award-winning artist J Balvin partnered with wellness pioneer Deepak Chopra to launch a free 21-day meditation experience titled, Renew Yourself: Body, Mind & Spirit. The audio was created to build resilience, find healing, and help listeners to create a new version of themselves. Around the same time, the Medellín native wrote an essay on People Magazine, detailing how meditation saved his life and his mental health struggles. “What makes mental health universal is that it doesn‘t discriminate. It affects all of us. I know that firsthand because I have gone through it myself. I have struggled with anxiety. I have been depressed,” he revealed. “Meditation is one of the many ways that I have dealt with my mental health. It saved my life and, to me, can be one of the key first steps in achieving mental and spiritual well-being. Meditation is about opening your mind to self-awareness and understanding that your mind is something that needs to be cared for and looked after. And that goes especially for this moment we’re currently experiencing: where money is so tight for many; health is such a question mark on a global level, and the fight for racial justice is more urgent than ever.”