J Balvin is the latest Latin star to make an appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show.
The chart-topping Colombian entertainer sat down with DeGeneres on Monday, May 23, just days before the series finale on May 26 to talk about becoming a global star and why he lived in Oklahoma at a point in his life, among other things.
Before the interview began, the “Mi Gente” singer presented DeGeneres with a beautiful bouquet of pink roses and congratulated her on her show’s historic run. “You deserve everything,” he told her. DeGeneres then goes on to explain that Balvin was supposed to appear on her show, which is ending after 19 pre-pandemic seasons but “then it all stopped… 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 gonna get you, but you’ve headlined Lollapalooza and Coachella, you’re one of the biggest streaming artists on Spotify,” said DeGeneres to Balvin, who replies that going global singing in Spanish makes everything even more special, explaining that before, Latin artists had to sing in English to make it to the mainstream market.
The hitmaker also opened up about why he moved from his native Colombia to small town 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. That’s where my inspiration to become an artist and conquer the world with my music comes from,” he says, adding, “But I have to be thankful for Oklahoma.
Before wrapping up his interview, Balvin opened up about his 9-month-old son, Rio, and talked about the meaning behind his name. “Like a river, I want it to flow.”
Watch J Balvin on The Ellen DeGeneres Show below.