--- description: Find out why J Balvin is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: J Balvin: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38962b53c42360ef/698a1254b21a9c4faa50408a/time-100-J-Balvin.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # J Balvin by Camila Cabello  Colombian singer J Balvin in Paris, June 22, 2019\. J Balvin and Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, two of the biggest Spanish-speaking global pop superstars, join forces on "Oasis," a new eight-song collaborative album. (Julien Mignot/The New York Times) Colombian singer J Balvin in Paris, June 22, 2019\. J Balvin and Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, two of the biggest Spanish-speaking global pop superstars, join forces on "Oasis," a new eight-song collaborative album. (Julien Mignot/The New York Times)Julien Mignot—The New York Times/Redux When I first met [J Balvin](https://www.instagram.com/jbalvin/?hl=en "undefined")—or José, as his family and friends know him—my family and I were already huge fans of his. We would play “[Ginza](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZjSX01P5dE "undefined")” and “[Ay Vamos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TapXs54Ah3E "undefined")” at all our family parties. He was already making the people all [over the world dance](https://time.com/4962254/beyonce-mi-gente-puerto-rico-mexico/ "undefined"). When I found out I was on a song with him—“[Hey Ma](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWLr2va3hu0 "undefined"),” my first song as a solo artist—I was so excited, but you’re always nervous to meet your idols. During a period of intense anxiety, I saw his posts on Instagram talking about [his struggle with anxiety and mental health](https://www.instagram.com/p/B2pqAs%5FHoP5/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink "undefined"), 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. 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](https://time.com/5617272/jbalvin-bad-bunny-new-music-list/ "undefined") 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. 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. _Cabello is a Grammy Award-nominated singer and songwriter_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888481/j-balvin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888481/j-balvin/"},"headline":"J Balvin","datePublished":"2020-09-22T19:56:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:37.404Z","description":"Find out why the \"Mi Gente\" singer is one of the most influential people of 2020, according to Camila Cabello.","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888481/j-balvin/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Artists"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38962b53c42360ef/698a1254b21a9c4faa50408a/time-100-J-Balvin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38962b53c42360ef/698a1254b21a9c4faa50408a/time-100-J-Balvin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888481/j-balvin/","name":"J Balvin"}}]}] ```