It’s not only Remezcla that would like to see Hollywood start moving away from producing stereotypical movies and TV series with storylines about drug trafficking in Latin America. Colombian singer and actor Maluma (Marry Me) is happy that more and more positive examples featuring his home country are beginning to pop up across the entertainment spectrum.
“It feels great when you fly to other countries and they don’t talk about [drug lord] Pablo Escobar anymore,” Maluma told Allure magazine during a recent interview. “They don’t talk about violence and drugs [when they think about Colombia]. For me, that’s beautiful.”
Instead, Maluma said people are starting to mention other things that make Colombia an incredible country. “They talk about Encanto,” he added. “They talk about Maluma. They talk about James Rodríguez, the soccer player. They talk about Karol G. It’s amazing that people are recognizing all the positive things about Colombia.”
In the Oscar-nominated animated film Encanto, Maluma lends his voice to the character Mariano Guzmán, a hopeless romantic engaged to the “perfect” daughter of the Madrigal family, Isabela (Diana Guerrero), who can make flowers bloom on command. He considers the film one that “really showed the beauty” of Colombia.
“I was super proud to be part of it…” he said. “That’s Colombia: pure magic.”
Next for Maluma outside his music and acting career is a collaboration with Macy’s to design his first global clothing line. He recently released a new cologne called Royalty.
“I wanted to call it Royalty because that’s how I feel,” he told Allure. “My world is like a royalty thing. This crown [tattoo] on my neck…[represents the]…love the people in my hometown Medellín gave me. I feel like the fragrance is a way to give other people the power to [rule over their own kingdom].”