When J Balvin dropped his hit “Mi Gente” earlier this summer, his global ambition was clear. Only a few months later, the track has shattered streaming records, joining “Despacito” as a song that has defined the so-called summer of Spanish-language pop.
It was only a matter of time until Balvin took his global ambition to the next level. Today, he announces a remix of “Mi Gente” featuring none other than Beyoncé herself.
On the remix, Queen B adds her own verse in Spanish. “Con lo mio todos se mueven/La fiesta la llevo en mis genes/Yo soy la reina de los nenes/Mi gente no se detiene,” she sings.
It’s not Queen B’s first time singing in Spanish; stans know that Bey released an entire EP’s worth of Spanish versions of her songs in 2007, and regularly performs “Irremplazable” flawlessly live (*coughs* hi, Bieber). Yoncé’s en español verse should come as no surprise; the superstar has been a longtime Spanish speaker, who has cited her love of Selena and childhood in Texas as a major influence.
In a press release for the remix, Beyoncé explains that she will donate all proceeds of the song to hurricane and earthquake relief in Mexico and the Caribbean, including organizations like CEMA, UNICEF and Somos Una Voz, J.Lo and Marc Anthony’s newly announced celebrity alliance.
Yoncé’s choice to link with reggaeton’s man of the moment is no doubt a savvy marketing move, and a decision to speak to her avid Latinx fan base. With a monumental collab like this one, Balvin just got one step closer to taking reggaeton to unprecedented heights. From the genre’s origin as a product of black, working-class struggle, to its pop explosion in the mid-2000s, and then again in 2017, the genre continues to prove that its history is one of transformation.
For more information on how proceeds from the collab will be distributed, head to Beyoncé’s website.
Stream the track via Spotify or via Apple Music below.