The video for J Balvin and Tokischa’s “Perra” has been removed from Youtube following continued backlash from viewers who say it promotes sexist and racist values. It’s not clear whether the video was taken down willingly by the artists or if YouTube removed the video given the controversy. Though the audio is still available on Youtube, the comment section has become overwhelmed with people calling out the song itself for promoting mistreatment of women, misogyny, and toxic masculinity.
So far, J Balvin or Tokischa have not issued a statement on the removal.
Most recently, Marta Lucía Ramírez, the Vice-President of Colombia, called out “Perra” for its racist and misogynistic treatment of women, particularly Afro-Latinas who were made to look like animals in the music video while being walked like dogs with leashes, and that many see as Balvin expressing the kind of power dynamic he has over them.
The comments from Vice-President Ramírez were alongside the Presidential Counselor for Women’s Equity, Gheidy Gallo Santos. According to Infobae, they said, “The artist uses images of women and people of African descent – a population group with special constitutional protection – to whom he presents with dog ears. In addition, while walking, the singer carries two Afro-descendant women tied with neck chains and crawling on the floor like animals or slaves.”
And what do his fans and those on the internet think? Many stand behind the removal being justified.
Others, like reggaeton historian and founder of Reggaeton Con La Gata, Kathleen Eccleston, expressed that while she was a fan of the song’s concept, she held a different sentiment for the video due to that J Balvin scene. “[It] had me f— up,” she tweeted.
And some, like journalist and Remezcla co-founder Nuria Net, questioned the point of removing the video from Youtube without an accompanying statement, stating that it “doesn’t resolve anything.”
