News that J Balvin could be the first of new age urbano royalty to collaborate with forever reina Ivy Queen comes as no surprise to me, as I’ve deemed him an in-touch visionary time and time again (or some might say, opportunistic), but I can’t for the life of me pinpoint what this collaboration will sound like. That unpredictable flare is something I could stand to witness more of, though, and surely the rest of their global audience will agree. This union, albeit overdue, will (hopefully) be the perfect merge of the classic and current.
Doubling down on recent comments, she told Telemundo “people think I don’t want to collab, but that’s not my case.” Just a couple of weeks ago, Ivy Queen publicly expressed her shock and bewilderment at some of the names that left her on read. Amongst those she would be down to collaborate with are Cardi B, Rosalía, Ozuna, and J Balvin.
Though the latter is well on his way to following through, she expressed hesitant contentment at the possible collaboration. “He and I want to release a song that… [you know], we’re two different kinds of lyrics,” she paused. “There’s Balvin’s lyrics and then there are mine, which are always in defense of women. We have to come to an agreement so we can sit down and come up with lines that are as global as possible, with no contempt for women.”
I… I would like to see it. Though it seems to be a sure thing, don’t hold your breath while you wait for this to drop. Last year, Ivy took a few of the women in urbano – including Karol G – to the studio and recorded a song called “Un Dia Sin Nosotras,” which still hasn’t seen the light of day. I wish Balvin and the Puerto Rican pioneer the best in their endeavor, and will listen to “787” and “Machika,” in the meantime.