Just a few days after quietly removing the music video for ‘Perra,’ J Balvin took to his Instagram stories to apologize for its content. The video has been subject of heavy criticism for its sexist, racist, and derogatory nature.
The video features black women on leashes portraying dogs. The song is about a female dog being in heat for a male dog. It garnered criticism from fans all over the world as well as Balvin’s mother and the Vice President of his home country of Colombia, so he removed it and apologized.
‘I want to say sorry to whomever felt offended, especially to the Black community,’ Balvin said. ‘That’s not who I am. I’m about tolerance, love and inclusivity. I also like to support new artists, in this case Tokischa, a woman who supports her people, her community and also empowers women.’
Tokischa is an artist from the Dominican Republic who is black. She appears in this song and on the music video. There has been no comment from her end on the matter.
It is important to note that it was Balvin’s own decision to remove the music video. YouTube did not take the video down as some people assumed due to its offensive nature.
One of the biggest problems with reggaeton music is that most of its lyrics and themes are rooted in sexism, misogyny, and vulgarity among other things. This is widely accepted by listeners of the genre which might come off wrong to the rest of the world.
It wouldn’t be surprising if cancel culture reaches reggaeton to the point to which most of its music will be looked down upon.
