What’s the Drama Between Bad Bunny and J Balvin?

The Gist:

• Rumors of drama between Bad Bunny and J Balvin have been making the rounds.
• One of Bad Bunny’s 2023 songs features a lyrical jab aimed at the Colombian singer.
• J Balvin has responded to the rumors and Bad Bunny’s song.

Popular musicians are certainly guilty of publicly calling each other out and starting some vocal feuds against each other. But as anyone who’s ever broken up with a musician before may tell you, musicians aren’t afraid to turn their beef with you into a brand new song.

Popular Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny did just that in his fifth studio album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana (Nobody KNows What Is Going to Happen Tomorrow), which was released on Oct. 13, 2023.

Aside from three previously released singles, the song features nearly 20 new songs from Bad Bunny. In one of them, however, the lyrics have been interpreted as an open-faced diss against Colombian singer J Balvin. Was there any drama between them that led to this apparent callout? Let’s break down what Bad Bunny said and how J Balvin responded.

In his 2023 studio album, Bad Bunny introduced a previously unreleased song called “Thunder y Lightning”. The song is a collab between himself and Latin trap/reggaeton artist Eladio Carrión. Within the lyrics, the Puerto Rican singer seems to take some jabs at J Balvin.

He stats “Ustedes me han visto con los mismo mientras ustedes son amigo de todo el mundo como Balvin,” which translates to “You guys have seen me with the same people while you all are friends with the whole world like Balvin.”

According to outlets like Rolling Stone, the lyrics seem to allude to the fact that J Balvin has often been criticized for his commercialized, crowd-pleasing style of songwriting. Interestingly enough, Bad Bunny and J Balvin have collaborated with each other on multiple occasions and have long held a mutual respect with each other.