J Balvin Responds To Backlash After Winning Afro-Latino Artist Of The Year

J Balvin responds to backlash from his Afro-Latino Artist Of The Year win at The African Entertainment Awards.

Source: James Devaney / Getty

This weekend, J Balvin was caught in a whirlwind of backlash after he won an African Entertainment Award for Artist Of The Year. The backlash comes from the fact Balvin isn’t Black, which fans were quick to point out as soon as his win was announced. The win also comes not long after he received backlash for having Black women on leashes in a recent music video. The award win even reheated his #LatinoLivesMatterToo post from during the George Floyd protests last year.

Balvin isn’t shying away from the drama and broke his silence to address the award win on Instagram. In Spanish, Balvin wrote:

“I am not Afro Latino but thank you for giving me a place in the contribution of Afrobeat music and its movement.”

Furthermore, the African Entertainment Awards addressed the backlash as well.

“After listening to the concern of our audience we have decided to maintain the purpose of the award but changed the name to Best Latin Artist Of the year. The Best Latin Artist category is for any artist based in Latin America that is contributing to the African culture especially the Afro-beats sound globally. It is not based on race but more importantly based on pushing the African culture forward on the world stage. This is the first year that we introduced this category to include our Latin brothers and sisters who have embraced Afrobeats music within their platforms. The winner of this category has demonstrated that and is deserving of this award based on the fans votes. Please remember the nominees in this category had no say in their nomination or influence on the award show. Instead of voicing dissatisfaction, let us encourage these artists to continue bridging the gap between Africa and Latin America.”

J Balvin has always faced the fire and stated he is human and learning and pushed the rest of the Latin music scene to do the same, but this time, he was caught in the crossfire.