J Balvin Joins Forces with ‘The Walking Dead’ Franchise — Here’s How
Colombian singer J Balvin pose upon arrival ahead of The BoF 500 Gala at the Shangri-La Hotel in Paris, on the sidelines of the Paris Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2025, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP) (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images)
J Balvin’s 2025 North American tour Back to the Rayo has been a visual feast for attendees, including cultural references to the American film Back to the Future. Now, Balvin’s cultural appreciation expands as he unveils a new collaboration with the American television franchise, The Walking Dead (TWD), making the tour merch the first of its kind for a Latino artist.
Inspired by the series’ spinoff, The Walking Dead: Dead City, The Swat Boys TWD Zip hoodie offers a “zombified” twist on the original Swat Boys sweatshirt, a zip sweatshirt that was already part of the concert tour merch. Designed to celebrate J Balvin’s friendship with DJ Pope, the special TWD version reinterprets the OG sweatshirt with unique distressed details and handcrafted airbrushing technique, making no two sweatshirts alike.
As for why The Walking Dead: Dead City, J Balvin is a fan. According to his official website: “Being a fan of the zombies and The Walking Dead since its inception, we wanted to unite both worlds in a bold way and with a fashionable vision, led by the creativity of Balvin who chose the SWAT BOYS diver that is part of the Rayo Special Drop collection, and that originally shows a vintage photo of Balvin and DJ Pope, now reinterpreted with a zombie transformation for this unique edition.”
The special edition sweatshirt first dropped at the New York City show in Barclays Center on March 20th, where attendees got first dibs on the drop. Merch was also displayed on the jumbo screens of the concert, where DJ Pope and Ed Sheeran made an onstage appearance and gathered onstage for a photo opp with the Colombian artist.
The Swat Boys TWD sweatshirt retails for $150 and is available for purchase online at jbalvin.com.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 premieres May 4 on AMC.