Programming note: It’s 2010s week! I’m spotlighting some of my favorite records released between 2010 and 2019. Like previous decade-themed newsletter posts, I’ve selected albums that cover multiple genres and deliberately avoided the well-worn titles that top all “best of” lists for this decade. In other words, no blonde, To Pimp a Butterfly, and so on.
Hope you enjoy it!
Hello! 😊👋
Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!
Today’s 2010s music pick is J Balvin’s worldwide breakthrough, a record that expanded reggaeton’s horizons.
In the post- “Despacito” explosion of Latin music success, no artist has crossed over with more power and finesse than J Balvin.
Similar to Luis Fonsi’s Big Bang moment in 2017, Balvin’s monster hit “Mi Gente” irreversibly transformed the sound of modern pop, dominating radio and club airplay all while earning Beyonce’s co-sign on a remix that, crucially, saw the R&B megastar crooning her lyrics in Spanish, instead of Balvin being forced to translate his own creation. The album that spawned “Mi Gente,” Vibras, is much more than a one-hit wonder. By fusing elements of R&B and dancehall to reggaeton’s signature style, he refined the existing model to appeal to an international audience. It’s smoother, arguably classier-sounding, and more sensual than Balvin’s previous LPs.
It’s clear he was determined not to squander his moment. “The real meaning of this album was what’s going on with Spanish music that’s going so global,” he told Apple Music. “The fact that we did an album that the beats are so amazing that you don’t have to understand what we say, you just have to love the songs.”
Even if you thought you knew what a Balvin track would sound like in the wake of “Mi Gente,” this record served up its fair share of surprises. “En Mí” features bubbling synths and auto-tuned vocals that can’t help but evoke a more tender version of reggaeton. At the same time, “No Es Justo,” a collab with veteran duo Zion & Lennox, adds in sweet strains of acoustic guitars over one of the album’s harder beats. Thankfully, Balvin and producer Sky leave plenty of room for the vocalists to shine. “Brillo,” a duet with pre-superstardom Rosalía, frames their easy chemistry with a more minimalist backdrop without letting those elements feel too sparse. The more he tweaks the typical formula, the more he sucks you in with the irresistible charm of spawning a global phenomenon.
When asked how his music resonates so well with non-Latin audiences, Balvin’s response has aged like a fine wine: “Even though you don’t understand what I’m saying, you are going to really feel it. The same thing happened to me when I used to listen to English music. I didn’t even understand one word. You know? But, it just makes me feel great.”
👉 Don’t forget to click the album image to stream the album on your favorite platform 👈